“Come and have breakfast” are homely words that engage us easily. Brendan Clifford OP uses them to set the scene for this “lectio divina”.
Come and have breakfast!
It was light by now and there stood Jesus on the shore, though his disciples did not realise that it was Jesus. Jesus called out. “Have you caught anything, friends?” And when they answered, “No’; he said, “Throw the net out to starboard and you’ll find something.” So they dropped the net, and there were so many fish, that they could not haul it in. The disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord”. At these words, “It is the Lord”, Simon Peter who had practically nothing on, wrapped his cloak around him and jumped into the water. The other disciples came on in the boat, towing the net and the fish.
As soon as they came ashore they saw that there was some bread there, and a charcoal fire with fish cooking on it. Jesus said, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net to the shore, full of big fish, one hundred and fifty-three of them; and in spite of there being so many the net was not broken. Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast. ” None of the disciples was bold enough to ask, ‘Who are you?’ They knew quite well it was the Lord. Jesus then stepped forward, took the bread and gave it to them, and the same with the fish. (John 21:4-13)
“Come and have breakfast!”
I invite you to think over these words and see what place they have in your life. We had a version of them in my house when I was a child: “The breakfast is ready.” If you are a parent, these words may be part of your morning struggle to get your children or teenagers out of bed. Or they may remind you of other meals, dinners and suppers, and the good people who prepared them for you at different times in your life. And you yourself may have prepared a lot of meals for others. “Come and have breakfast” are words from ordinary everyday life, not the kind of words we would expect to find in the Bible. It is surprising then to hear Jesus using them.
In every corner of the world
When Jesus appeared to his followers after his resurrection, sometimes they had trouble recognising him. This serves to remind us that the risen Jesus is present and active among people in every corner of the world now, and that we often fail to recognise him.
We may be bold enough to say that he is present in the simple things that people do for one another. We may look with reverence at the person who prepares our food and serves it with good will, and say what the disciple said, “It is the Lord”. We recognise Jesus too in those who work to create a just world where there is adequate food for every person.
A word to guide us
But we do not live on bread alone, we also need words from the mouth of the Lord. Before the apostles had breakfast with Jesus that morning, they needed to hear words from him. They had been fishing all night and had caught nothing. Jesus’ first words addressed, their concerns: “Have you caught anything, friends?” He listened to what they had to say before he said anything else. Then he had words of guidance for them, “Throw the net out to starboard and you’ll find something.” Can you remember a time when things were not going well for you and you did not know what to do, but you received guidance that showed you a way forward? It may have come by way of advice from a wise person who listened to you, or it may have come as an inspiration from deep within yourself – as you look back now, you can say: ‘It was the Lord.”
In this story the apostles needed guidance and they needed nourishment, and it is the Lord who met those needs. The same is true for ourselves each day, and it is especially true when we come to Mass on Sunday. There we look for guidanlce and inspiration as we listen to the word of God in the readings and in the homily; we look for nourishment for our whole being as we receive Holy Communion. As we hear his word and as we receive him, body and blood, soul and divinity, we can say in truth, “It is the Lord”.
Prayer: Psalm 23
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside still waters; He restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
I fear no evil, for you are with me;
your rod and your staff they comfort me.
You prepare a table before mein the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.
This article first appeared in St Martin Magazine (April 2007).
