3rd Sunday of Easter Cycle C April 18, 2010
Acts 5:27-32, 40b-41 Revelation 5:11-14
John 21:1-
19
In the words of Jesus, “Come, have breakfast.” Or lunch. Or dinner. Or a
midnight snack. Or some chocolate in between meals. “Come, have
breakfast with Jesus.” On the shore of the Sea of Tiberius. Breakfast at
Tiffany’s can’t hold a candle to ‘Breakfast with Jesus at the Sea of Tiberius.”
Not when all is said and done.
I’m sure your experience over the years has been similar to my own; that
we’ve seen people eat some of the strangest foods for breakfast. Cold pizza
left over from the night before. A cold Coney Island hot dog sitting in a box
all by itself. (That tastes great at 8:00 in the morning, doesn’t it?) Or even a
Budweiser, or a Lite beer from Miller for breakfast in order to prevent that
hangover from taking full effect. Now that sounds like a yummy breakfast,
does it not? Much better that a warm dish of scrambled eggs and toast.
Right? Well, maybe not!
“Come, have breakfast.” Breakfast with a resurrected Jesus is much more
enriching than many of the other menus we can create on the spot. Because
to have breakfast with the resurrected Christ, as Peter and the other
Apostles do, is not only to eat with Jesus, but also to feed on Jesus. And
what does that look like? What is the appearance and the setting and the
food for feeding on Jesus? Well, welcome to Christ the King Diner. Where
our own Rob Campbell will satisfy your stomach. And where Jesus will
satisfy your soul.
It’s a different sort of satisfying though. For here at Christ the King Diner,
according to today’s 1st reading from the Acts of the Apostles, one can be
found worthy and find satisfaction to suffer dishonor for the sake of the
name of Jesus. Once again, coming to have breakfast with Jesus is not your
typical bacon and eggs served on a nice clean platter. As we see in this first
reading, to obey God and to worship Jesus will at times result in a reaction
from others. Sometimes a good reaction, sometimes not. And the sometimes
not, which is suffering dishonor for the sake of the name, can come from
other Catholics, other Christians, from those who may not be Christian, and
even those who may not believe in
God.
The Apostles could have been broken down by the Sanhedrin and walked
away with their tail between their legs. They could have disengaged and
forever separated themselves from preaching the Gospel because of threats.
Instead, they found joy and satisfaction by way of being dishonored for the
name of Jesus Christ. Their satisfaction resulted from the fact they had full
confidence in the message they were proclaiming. How unshakable is our
own confidence today? And nothing, no threats, no newspaper articles from
self-proclaimed angry experts, no human reasoning no matter how well
disguised, could break their confidence.
Jesus offers us the same confidence here at his diner. It’s in this diner that
we are given the resurrected tools to ensure that this world, a world that tries
each day to break down the Christian spirit bit by bit, will not break us down,
nor water down the message proclaimed in the liturgy week in and week out.
Here we are provided the courage, fortitude, and wherewithal to stay the
course of eating breakfast with Jesus. That this is not something that we just
do. Rather, we come together to have breakfast with Jesus, and find
satisfaction in the victorious message of Christ that he is risen, and
satisfaction in the elements of the
altar.
Which brings us to the Gospel. To the Sea of Tiberius. It’s a good place to
be. I
In this gentle scene of a 3rd resurrection appearance by Jesus, satisfaction
is found in an equation. There’s a verbal equation in Jesus’ conversation
with St. Peter. And the equation is thus; a question + an answer = a result, an
action. The question; “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Plus the
answer; “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Equals; “Feed my
sheep.”
This equation is a daily occurrence in our lives. Many times each
day.
Everyday, in the many encounters of our lives, comes the question echoing
all the way from the Sea of Tiberius, “Do you love me?” I have no doubt that
everyone of us would answer, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you. You died
for me. You rose from the dead for me. You taught me Lord. You remain with
me Lord. You feed me your body and blood. Lord, you call me home to
paradise. Lord, you know that I love you.” “Feed my sheep.” In other words,
love doesn’t stand still. Love is a verb. God is a verb. The action brings the
question and answer to life. The action completes the equation.
But the action also needs a purpose. It needs meaning. The action of love
being lived out in our lives each day needs a Source. It needs an Essence.
What puts gasoline into the engine of this equation, what brings about
satisfaction on a heavenly level, is having breakfast with Jesus here at Christ
the King week in and week out.
Such is the power of our liturgical celebration. Here we are fed. It is from here
we bring satisfaction to others. It is here we build up confidence in the
message so that no worldly power, or no worldly scribe, will water down our
Apostolic confidence. It is here we find the strength and meaning to live a life
for the resurrected Christ.
“So, come have breakfast.” We don’t serve cold pizza or an overnight Coney
Island hot dog here. We serve the true Gospel, along with the true body and
blood of Jesus Christ that provides us the confidence and strength to feed
his sheep, and at the same time being fed ourselves.