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Photo by the National Academy of Design, N.Y.

ON THE COVER: A roiling sea hints at the astonishing catch it will yield to Jesus’ apostles, in American artist Henry Ossawa Tanner’s “Miraculous Draught of Fishes” (c. 1913–1914). Luke 5:1–11 tells of a miraculous catch of fish, followed by Jesus’ call to Simon Peter, James and John to follow him. Simon Peter and his partners had spent the night fishing, with little success. When Jesus directs them to “put out into deep water and let down your nets for a catch,” a tremendous haul of fish splits their nets and fills their boats to the point of capsizing, and amazement prevails among the fishermen. As Jerome Murphy-O’Connor notes in “Fishers of Fish, Fishers of Men,” the disciples’ incredulity was not rooted in ignorance or gullibility. Rather, they were no-nonsense, relatively prosperous businessmen very much in control of their lives—important characteristics because much of what we know of Jesus’ sayings and acts flows from the testimony of these fishermen.