Historically, the heart of the Catholic church in Australia has been its parishes and its schools.  These have been equally matched by Catholic Health, Catholic Welfare and Catholic Social Services.  Over time the mission and purpose of our key missionary thrusts need to be revisited, renewed and re-articulated for the present day.  This weeks Gospel brings that point home to us.  John’s Gospel tells us that the disciples had been out in the boat and caught nothing all night.  As the morning light arrived they are addressed by a stranger – ‘have you caught anything?’.  When they reply ‘No’, they are asked to throw their nets to starboard and are assured that they will find something.  They haul in a huge catch and at that moment they realise that this is no stranger but the risen Lord by their side.

We too can find ourselves in the situation where we can feel like the nets are coming in empty.  We should be encouraged to throw them out again.  At the same time we have to be careful not to take the analogy too literally.  Nets can be used to trap fish; nets can used to gather up the fish despite their attempts to escape or slip through the net.  That is certainly not the sense in which we want to throw out our nets.  Our Catholic parishes and schools are not places to coerce or trap people in the net of Catholicism.  But we do want to throw out an invitational net, a net of hospitality and welcome.  We want to throw out a net that is a safe place to be and where human vulnerabilities can be exposed and healed.  A net where the risen Lord can be found by our side.

There are two words, it seems to me, that are characteristic of the recasting of the net.  These are synodality and dialogue.  These two words seem to be repeated again and again in the writings of Pope Francis and in the recent documents on Catholic Education.  Pope Francis is calling us to be a synodal Church.  By this phrase he means  a Church in which the whole Church, all the baptised, are involved in listening and discerning the movement of God in our lives and in our world.  In other words it is a Church characterised by the participation of everyone guided by the spirit.  This is the net that has the potential to renew our parishes and open our eyes to the presence of the risen Lord standing by our side.  It is a journey that the church and its parishes are travelling.

The other word is dialogue.  This word too, is characteristic of a synodal Church.  It is also at the heart of the renewal of our Catholic Schools today.  The Vatican Congregation for Catholic Education released its latest document on Catholic Education, entitled, The Identity of the Catholic School for a Culture of Dialogue

This document reminds us that in a multicultural and multi-religious society Catholic Education has a challenge to promote dialogue to foster a peaceful society.  In other words a Catholic school and a Catholic parish should be a place where peace among diverse peoples is promoted and worked for.   At the same time the school and parish should be a place where Christianity is ‘visible, tangible and conscious.’  The Catholic Education document says it like this:

28.  For the Catholic school, a great responsibility is to bear witness. “The Christian presence must be shown and made clear, that is, it must be visible, tangible and conscious. Today, due to the advanced process of secularization, Catholic schools find themselves in a missionary situation, even in countries with an ancient Christian tradition”[35]. They are called upon to commit to bearing witness through an educational project clearly inspired by the Gospel. “Schools, even Catholic schools, do not demand adherence to the faith, however, they can prepare for it. Through the educational plan it is possible to create the conditions for a person to develop a gift for searching and to be guided in discovering the mystery of his being and of the reality that surrounds him, until he reaches the threshold of the faith. To those who then decide to cross this threshold the necessary means are offered for continuing to deepen their experience of faith”[36].

So, let’s cast out the nets of our parishes and schools again.  But as we get ready to cast the invitational nets once more let’s reflect on where we are throwing them, with what faith and openness we will meet those who come our way, with what synodal skills of participation and dialogue we might cloth ourselves and with what experience of faith we might bear witness.

How then shall we answer the question:  “Have you caught anything, friends?”

By Fr Brendan Reed