The Breakfast of Champions!

The Gospel of John (21:1-14) describes how Peter declared that he was going fishing in order to deal with the traumatic events of the previous week.  His boat-buddies concur and go off with him. No doubt they are suffering a form of  PTSD.  They have survived one of the darkest trials in their lives, which probably has triggered deep anxiety, fear, and nightmares, to say the least.  I’m sure that we all can identify with this.  For when crisis or the unexpected creeps into our ordinary lives, we, too, make statements, such as, “I’m going for a walk,” or “I’m going shopping,” or “I’m going to go see my friend.”  We all have our own private ways of grieving or coping with the surprises of life that knock us off balance!

As this post-Resurrection story unfolds, Jesus provides a little tailgate party on the beach for his disciples.  In his gentleness, he inquires if they have caught any fish for breakfast.  They respond that they haven’t caught a thing after fishing all night. Certainly this was very unusual for them whose source of food and income was fishing.  So Jesus instructs them to cast their nets to the other side of the boat.  Now you’d think that a carpenter giving helps and hints to these skilled fishermen on how to catch fish is way out of his league! But in doing so, they immediately have a haul of fish of which they weren’t strong enough to pull in with their nets.  It is then that they become conscious -Tah-dah!-  and recognize Jesus on the beach - who simply lets them know that breakfast is ready!  A breakfast of champions made with a little charcoal fire and a side order of fish and bread to go.  These disciples are now not who they used to be and they are not who they are going to be!  They are witnesses of the Resurrection empowered by the Spirit. They will be sent out to carry on the mission of Jesus beyond the familiar, the certain, the secure, the routine, the everyday, the old way of doing and believing.  Their nets will be cast throughout the world to catch new believers!  They will now “champion the cause,” along with many women,  and give voice to the God who breathes out peace upon all creation and speaks forgiveness and mercy. Let it be, let it come to pass!

So in conclusion, I suppose discernment is something like this entire story. 

·     We like to find those places, people, and familiar activities that offer us comfort when we feel unbalanced, awkward within and without, anxious, weary, or just plain hesitant to act with courage and self-confidence when we have been nudged by the Divine to step out of our boats of security.

·     We sort of revert to familiar methods of saying certain prayers, or thinking a certain way about God’s plan for us, or who we think God thinks we are – when this call to a new way of being rattles our lives! 

  God invites us to take and eat the food of compassion and love through Word and Eucharist, and in turn share it through our ministries again and again. 

·   God just loves to rock our boat; meet us on the shore of our doubts; invite us to be nourished by Word, Wonder, and Wisdom; and to be witnesses in this world fraught with chaos, violence, and darkness. Let us all learn to speak forgiveness and mercy, and breathe out peace upon our world.  Amen.  ALLELUIA!  Hurry - breakfast is ready!