Octave of Easter 2023 - Friday - Come have breakfast

 On Easter Sunday morning, when the angel appeared to the women at the empty tomb, the angel told them to tell the disciples to go to Galilee, and there they shall see the Lord. Well, today, we hear how the disciples have gone to Galilee—the Sea of Tiberius is another name for the Sea of Galilee—and there they see the Lord. Why they decided to go fishing instead of preaching, teaching, healing, and spreading the Gospel is another question. They don’t even appear to be looking that hard for Jesus, in fact, they seem to have retreated back to what they were doing before Jesus called them.  Well, they might not having been looking that hard for Jesus, but Jesus was looking for them. Upon seeing him, they make their way to shore, and Jesus says to them, “come, have breakfast”.  

There is something unique about breakfast. It’s not a royal banquet, it’s a simple meal, typically shared with family. It’s informal; everybody might still be a bit disheveled—not everyone is washed or totally awake. The disciples, after a night of working, certainly fit this description. Like a parent for children still groggy from sleep, the Lord makes breakfast for these groggy children, he even calls them children. 

Jesus knew the disciples would be hungry after a night of fishing, but no doubt they were hungrier for the truth: that Jesus was with them, that he had indeed risen from the dead, that their first two encounters with him weren’t hallucinations, he wasn’t a ghost, and that he was continuing to prepare them for the great mission of spreading the good news, making disciples, teaching all nations that salvation is found in Him.

Easter was 5 days ago, and we, like the disciples are already a bit groggy from worldly business. Maybe we’ve even retreated back into old comfort zones instead of allowing Easter to change us. Maybe, since Lent is over, we haven’t been looking for Jesus that hard in prayer. But it is good that we are here, at Mass. Weekday Mass is so powerful, and I wish more people would come to weekday Mass, because the Lord meets us here for breakfast, for an intimate family meal, to feed us, to reorient us for the work he has for us out in the world. 

The Collect for Mass this morning asked God to dispose our minds that the faith we celebrate may be expressed in our deeds. That’s exactly what the Lord was doing on the seashore with the disciples, opening their minds to the reality of his resurrection, that their faith might impel them into the world. And he does the same thing here. May the reality and power of the Lord’s resurrection animate our words and deeds today, for the glory of God and salvation of souls. 

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Filled with Paschal joy, let us turn earnestly to God, to graciously hear our prayers and supplications.

For the shepherds of our souls, that they may have the strength to govern wisely the flock entrusted to them by the Good Shepherd.

For the whole world, that it may truly know the peace of the Risen Christ. 

For our own community, that it may bear witness with great confidence to the Resurrection of Christ, and that the newly initiated hold fast to the faith they have received. 

For our brothers and sisters who suffer, that their sorrow may be turned to gladness through the Christian faith.

That all of our beloved dead and all the souls in purgatory may come to the glory of the Resurrection.

O God, you know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the desires of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our lord.

Easter Octave 2021 - Friday - Revealed

 The very first verse and the very last verse of the Gospel passage today contain a very important word: reveal. After his resurrection, the risen Lord “revealed” himself to his disciples. 

St. John likes to use this word, both in his Gospel and in the book of Revelation. He’s even sometimes called “St. John the Revelator” 

The signs Jesus accomplished throughout John’s Gospel: the wedding at Cana, walking on water, multiplying loaves, raising the dead, reveal Jesus’ identity and his mission—his divine identity and his mission to bring about the salvation of mankind.

Two details certainly reveal his identity and mission in the Gospel today: the miraculous catch of fish and the meal Jesus provides. And yet, these two details reveal something about the church, too. Just as at Jesus’ word, the net is cast into the sea after a long night of fruitless fishing, now in the period after the resurrection the church is to cast the net of the Gospel into the world, to bring in souls. We are made fishers of men. And just as the risen lord shares a meal with his friends on the seashore, the members of the church, are to celebrate the holy mass, in which the lord feeds his friends with his body and blood in every corner of the world. 

The Lord wishes to use us to continue to reveal that his is Risen from the dead. The Church’s mission continues and will continue until the Lord’s return: to help people believe that Jesus is God, that he is savior, and that he is risen. 

In the Gospel, it takes a number of disciples to pull in that net of fish, and so too with us. It takes a number of Christians, working together, to bring souls to Christ. Who are your fishing partners? Your not meant to be working all alone. The work of the Gospel is never a solitary act. Where two or three are gathered, the Lord is revealed. 

Lord, reveal to me how you wish me to reveal you to others, today. For the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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Filled with Paschal joy, let us turn earnestly to God, to graciously hear our prayers and supplications.

For the shepherds of our souls, that they may have the strength to govern wisely the flock entrusted to them by the Good Shepherd.

For the whole world, that it may truly know the peace of the Risen Christ. 

For our own community, that it may bear witness with great confidence to the Resurrection of Christ, and that the newly initiated hold fast to and grow in the faith they have received. 

For our brothers and sisters who suffer, that their sorrow may be turned to gladness through the Christian faith.

That all of our beloved dead and all the souls in purgatory may come to the glory of the Resurrection.

O God, you know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the desires of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our lord.

Homily: 22nd Week of OT 2016 - Thursday - Casting into the deep

When the new millennium began, Pope John Paul II wrote a letter to the Church and used the words of Jesus to Peter from today’s Gospel.  In latin, they are “duc in altum”—“put out into the deep”. 

You might imagine Peter’s confusion or perhaps muttering under his breath, when Jesus, a carpenter, spoke those words to him, a professional fisherman, telling him how to do his job.  Peter and his crew had just fished all night and had just finished cleaning all of their equipment when Jesus instructed Peter to cast his net into deep waters. 

Even though it contradicted his professional sensibilities, trusting his master, he cast out into the depths of Lake Genesseret, and catching so many fish, they had to call for another boat to bring them all in. 

In his uncertainty, he placed his deep trust in the Lord, and that made all the difference.  Pope John Paul II, sensing the challenges the Church would face in the new millennium: failing economies, impending wars, a culture becoming bent on instant gratification and materialism, he called reminded us of the Lord’s command to Peter: to cast out into the deep, in his own person spiritual life.   If we are going to remain faithful amidst all of these worldly pressures and temptations we must seek to be ever more deeply converted to Christ, to love him ever more deeply, to drink deeply of the Holy Spirit.

In another sense, those words, “put out into deep waters” is a call to every Christian, no matter their state in life, to take up the missionary mandate of the Church: to reach out to those who do not have faith, to reach out to the poor and suffering, and to not be afraid to witness to the truth of the Gospel in the public sphere and the political realm.  Just like Peter casting out into deep waters to bring in this miraculous catch of fish, we too can make a miraculous catch, when we cooperate with Jesus. 

Where are the deep waters in your own life? Who are the fish that seem just out of reach? A fallen away family member? An angry neighbor? Who needs to be invited back to Mass…to the Confessional…to speak with the priest about an annulment…who needs to be gently confronted about an addiction or unchaste behavior?

Today and all days we must have a radical trust in the Lord, rooted in prayer, in seeking ever deeper conversion to Christ for ourselves and others for the glory of God and salvation of souls.