Come and Eat

Jesus said to them, ‘Come and have breakfast.’ 
Jn.21:12

After a night of not catching any fish, the disciples are met on the beach by the resurrected Jesus. He draws them to him by the best of invitations. "Come and eat..."

Is there anything better sizzling in a pan than fish that thirty minutes earlier had been swimming in the sea? Jesus knows how to catch the attention of disappointed, lousy fishermen. The only times the apostles are recorded as catching fish is when Jesus directs them where to throw their nets. 

Jesus is about to give Peter his great commission to feed and take care of the lambs and sheep of the Church. He strengthens Peter physically then spiritually. Sharing a meal with others gives a powerful sense of belonging. In a world full of isolated and lonely people, this is still the best way to reach out.

Jesus, show me the people who need to hear the invitation, "Come and eat."

What Things?

Then one of them, called Cleopas, answered him, ‘You must be the only person staying in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have been happening there these last few days.’ ‘What things?’ he asked. 

Jesus meets the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. It only takes two words from Jesus to draw out all their grief. "What things?"

People long to be heard. We get enough of being talked to, but to be really heard is rare. Jesus puts their dark story into perspective, placing it under the light of scripture, into the light of his story. The tragedy of his crucifixion is not the end of the story. In fact, it is only the title page of the real story, the story not of death and darkness but of light and life. This is the story in which I am a character with a role to play.

Jesus, you are the consummate listener. Help me be present and listen to those I meet today.

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

The Power of One

It is better for one man to die for the people, than for the whole nation to be destroyed.
Jn.11:50

The Sanhedrin are meeting to plan what to do about the problem of Jesus. Caiaphas the high priest gives the final solution. Kill him. The stage is set for Holy Week. 

Caiaphas' pragmatic solution, kill one for the betterment of many, is the exact opposite of Jesus' solution, save one for the betterment of all. For Jesus, the individual is of paramount importance. I matter supremely to Jesus. I have the power of one.

If the individual matters to Jesus, the individual must matter to me as his follower. 

Jesus, help me see and serve the individual you place before me today. 

Be One

Every kingdom divided against itself is heading for ruin, and a household divided against itself collapses. 
Lk.11:17

Jesus is answering the accusation that he casts out devils by the power of Beelzebul, the prince of devils. Even logic refutes this as an impossibility. Being a consummate teacher, Jesus uses the occasion to teach a truth... united we stand, divided we fall. 

Much of Jesus' prayer recorded in the Gospels is for unity among believers. For good reason. He knows our propensity to disunity and the power of its destruction. 

Striving for unity, sooner or later, involves me giving up my rights... and that is hard. Even so, what is the alternative? A collapsed house, a ruined kingdom.

Jesus, help me give up my rights as you gave up yours. 
Saints Felicity and Perpetua, please pray for me.

The Spirit of the Law

Do not imagine that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete them.
Mt.5:17

Jesus has just started his great Sermon on the Mount, establishing the ground rules for what he is about to teach. The letter of the law is about to be given spirit. "You have heard it said... but I tell you..."

The letter of the law is death. The spirit of the law gives life and life in its fullness. The Pharisee within me loves the letter of the law. It is crisp, black and white, easy to administer. The trouble with the letter of the law is that it not only condemns those to whom I apply it, it condemns me! 

The spirit of the law applies the letter of the law through the lens of mercy. Mercy is messy. When mercy is applied I get the nagging feeling that people are "getting away with it". And indeed they are. Praise God!

As a man who would be hung, drawn and quartered by the letter of the law, I thank God for the spirit of the law. His mercy is my only hope.

Thank you Jesus for your wonderful mercy. I place my trust in you.

Love

But I say this to you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you; in this way you will be sons of your Father in heaven.
Mt5:44,45

Jesus raises the bar on what it means to be a follower of him. Pray for my persecutors, love my enemies. This is the test of an authentic Christian.

My human nature wants to curse my persecutors and hate my enemies. The world would welcome and applaud me as one of its own. I am called to something greater, something divine. 

Easy to achieve? Jesus never says that. He just does it and then turns, beckons me and says, "Come, follow me". 

Lord, with you all things are possible. I place my trust in you.

Stretcher Bearer

It is not those who are well who need the doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the virtuous, but sinners to repentance.
Lk.5:31,32

In calling Matthew the tax collector and then attending a party of tax collectors and sinners, given in his honour, Jesus unequivocally announces who he came for. The sick, the sinner, the bottom of the heap. 

Jesus clearly attracted broken people, the social outcasts. In the last two thousand years the Church has lost that charismatic appeal. I know in my pre-christian days, the Church was the last place I felt drawn to in my brokenness. "They'd just make me feel worse!" 

People are aching for the healing that only Jesus can give. I love Pope Francis' vision of the Church as a hospital in the field of battle. I want to be a stretcher bearer in that sort of Church. 

Jesus, help me be an agent not of judgement but of compassion that people may be drawn to you, the great physician.