“Have you anything to eat here?” asks Jesus his Apostles in the Gospel and they give him a piece of grilled fish. However it is Jesus who is distributing food. You may remember the passage from the Gospel about Jesus feeding the five thousand people with a few loaves of bread. We could say that it was an impressive miracle but actually in today’s Gospel we can see an impressive miracle. To fill people’s tummies isn’t difficult on the other hand to fill their hearts and minds with good things is very difficult. When after his resurrection Jesus came to his disciples he found them feasting. They feasted on their disappointment with Jesus, fear about their future, despair, confusion, abandonment; the list of the dishes they had was long. We can imagine the heavy atmosphere in the room where they were gathered. They were filled with such a big amount of dark feelings that they even couldn’t believe their own eyes seeing Jesus.
My Dear Sisters and brothers!
When the Apostles gave Jesus the fish they gave him the deepest and darkest feelings dwelling in them. Fish is the creature living in darkness. The fish they offered Jesus was a symbol of the things they were feeding their minds and hearts with after he was arrested and then executed. However, as I said at the beginning, Jesus is going to distribute food they desperately need. This time it’s not for their tummies but for their hearts and minds. St Luke says that: “Jesus opened their minds to understand the Scriptures” Now they can feast on the life giving food: the faith in Jesus Christ who died on the cross and rose from the dead so that their sins may be forgiven. Since they came to believe in Jesus’ resurrection they start to see signs of God in the world even where they would never expect God. If God was present in the Passion and death of Jesus he must be present in all the events of their lives. Now they can celebrate Easter in its full meaning and power. The Easter grace has reached them too because Easter isn’t just about the fact that Jesus came back to life but Easter is about our rising with the Lord to new life in God. Now the disciples are ready to reflect Jesus’ way of the cross in their lives as the journey to the resurrection.
What happened that evening when the Lord appeared among them is a great promise to us too.
The Lord who fed his disciples minds and hearts with the Good News of his Resurrection is with us here. He is present here, among us as real as he was with them. Very gently he is feeding us with food which can make us people of hope and joy anchored in God.
“Have you here anything to eat” he is asking us. What is filing your heart and mind right now? Even if it comes from the deepest darkness, like the fish, don’t hesitate but give it to the Lord. Don’t pump toxics of gloomy feelings, disappointments, despair etc. into your soul any more. Don’t be ashamed, he already knows the taste of it because he tasted in on the cross. In return, however he can let you taste things of heaven. Even in a broken life there is a taste of heaven if you believe in Jesus’ resurrection and if you believe in your resurrection with him.
My Dear Sisters and brothers!
When the Apostles gave Jesus the fish they gave him the deepest and darkest feelings dwelling in them. Fish is the creature living in darkness. The fish they offered Jesus was a symbol of the things they were feeding their minds and hearts with after he was arrested and then executed. However, as I said at the beginning, Jesus is going to distribute food they desperately need. This time it’s not for their tummies but for their hearts and minds. St Luke says that: “Jesus opened their minds to understand the Scriptures” Now they can feast on the life giving food: the faith in Jesus Christ who died on the cross and rose from the dead so that their sins may be forgiven. Since they came to believe in Jesus’ resurrection they start to see signs of God in the world even where they would never expect God. If God was present in the Passion and death of Jesus he must be present in all the events of their lives. Now they can celebrate Easter in its full meaning and power. The Easter grace has reached them too because Easter isn’t just about the fact that Jesus came back to life but Easter is about our rising with the Lord to new life in God. Now the disciples are ready to reflect Jesus’ way of the cross in their lives as the journey to the resurrection.
What happened that evening when the Lord appeared among them is a great promise to us too.
The Lord who fed his disciples minds and hearts with the Good News of his Resurrection is with us here. He is present here, among us as real as he was with them. Very gently he is feeding us with food which can make us people of hope and joy anchored in God.
“Have you here anything to eat” he is asking us. What is filing your heart and mind right now? Even if it comes from the deepest darkness, like the fish, don’t hesitate but give it to the Lord. Don’t pump toxics of gloomy feelings, disappointments, despair etc. into your soul any more. Don’t be ashamed, he already knows the taste of it because he tasted in on the cross. In return, however he can let you taste things of heaven. Even in a broken life there is a taste of heaven if you believe in Jesus’ resurrection and if you believe in your resurrection with him.
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