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Breakfast on the Shore with the Risen Lord
Where We Are
Alleluia! Friday within the Easter Octave takes us to the shore of the Sea of Galilee, where the Risen Jesus appears to his disciples over a charcoal fire and a breakfast of bread and fish. The evangelist John gives us this deeply personal scene: the disciples have gone back to fishing, perhaps unsure of what to do next, when a figure on the shore calls out to them. In Acts, Peter and John stand before the Sanhedrin, arrested for healing the lame man and preaching the Resurrection. The contrast is striking: the same Jesus who serves breakfast on the beach empowers his followers to stand before the highest court in the land.
The Word
In Acts, Peter and John are brought before the rulers and elders. Peter, "filled with the Holy Spirit," declares that the man was healed by the name of Jesus Christ, "whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead." He quotes the psalm: "The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone." There is salvation in no one else. In John's Gospel, seven disciples fish through the night on the Sea of Tiberias and catch nothing. At dawn, Jesus stands on the shore. He tells them to cast the net on the right side, and they haul in one hundred and fifty-three large fish. The beloved disciple says, "It is the Lord!" Peter throws himself into the sea. On shore, they find a charcoal fire with fish and bread. Jesus says, "Come and eat your breakfast." He takes the bread and gives it to them.
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Reflect
There is something profoundly consoling about the fact that the Risen Lord cooks breakfast.
After everything, after the cross and the empty tomb and the appearances behind locked doors, Jesus meets his disciples in the most ordinary setting imaginable: a beach at dawn, with a fire, bread, and fish. He does not summon them to a throne room or a mountaintop. He feeds them.
The detail of the charcoal fire is significant. John mentions a charcoal fire only one other time in his Gospel: in the courtyard of the high priest, where Peter denied Jesus three times (John 18:18). Now, beside another charcoal fire, Peter will soon be restored. John is telling us that Jesus returns to the scene of our failure, not to condemn us, but to heal us.
The miraculous catch of fish echoes the beginning of the disciples' journey, when Jesus first called them and told them they would be fishers of people (Luke 5:1-11). The story has come full circle, but everything has changed. Before the Resurrection, they fished in their own strength and caught nothing. After the Resurrection, at Jesus's word, the nets overflow.
Peter's reaction is pure Peter: impulsive, passionate, whole-hearted. When the beloved disciple says, "It is the Lord," Peter does not wait for the boat to reach shore. He throws himself into the water. This is the kind of reckless love that the Resurrection produces. Not careful calculation, but a headlong plunge toward Jesus.
"Come and eat your breakfast." These may be the most tender words in all of Scripture. The God of the universe, risen from the dead, stands on a beach and serves his friends a meal.
Living It
Today, look for Jesus in the ordinary. He meets us not only in grand liturgies and mountaintop experiences, but in shared meals, quiet mornings, and the daily rhythms of work. If your efforts feel fruitless, like the disciples fishing all night with empty nets, try casting on the other side. Ask Jesus to redirect your energy. Share a meal with someone today and let it be a small Eucharist, a moment of communion. And if there is a "charcoal fire" in your life, a place of failure or shame, know that Jesus is already there, cooking breakfast, ready to restore what was broken.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, you stood on the shore at dawn and called to your friends across the water. You built a fire and cooked their breakfast. We are undone by the tenderness of your love. Meet us in the ordinary moments of our lives. When our nets come up empty, redirect us with your word. When we recognize you, give us Peter's reckless courage to plunge toward you. Come, Lord, and eat with us. Alleluia. Amen.
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