About a year ago, my Dad had some surgery and ended up recovering at the Nursing Home in
my hometown. He had a phone in his room, with a direct dial. I would call him often and also
visit him. He was there for a couple of weeks and doing well so I didn’t feel bad about leaving
for a week to go on my annual canoe trip into Canada.
When my trip was finished, I called him on the way home:
“Hi Dad, this is Kevin.”
“Hi.”
“How’s it going?”
“Not so good.”
“What’s up?”
“Well my foot is hurting quite a bit.”
“Your foot? Oh my goodness. What’s going on?”
“There’s a lot of pain. They might have to cut it off.”
“What? That’s awful. When?”
“I don’t know. The doctors will look at it again tomorrow.”
“How long have you had this pain?
“Oh about 3 years.”
“Three years? Wait a minute, is this Russ?”
“No, this is Joe. Who’s this?”
“Kevin.”
“I don’t know a Kevin.”
My Dad had been discharged a couple days earlier. I was talking to a stranger. Golly, that was
rough. Sometimes we do the same thing with God. We think that we are connecting, but we’re
not.
In the gospel, Jesus was trying to connect with the disciples. Not only was he helping them with
their job (fishing) he also wanted to connect with them by feeding them. Jesus would probable
want to do the same thing with us, but many times we don’t connect well.
Imagine that Jesus wants to give you breakfast. What do you want?
-[1st presenter brings up a tray with a bowl of cereal on it] Maybe it’s only a quick fix.
-Or sometimes we settle on junk for this meal. [2nd presenter brings up a tray containing a donut
and a can of Coke.]
-Or maybe [3rd presenter brings up a tray with nothing on it] we don’t even have a breakfast.
-But then, we enjoy a wonderful breakfast[4th presenter brings a tray with an elaborate breakfast
of pancakes, sausage, Orange Juice, a flower in a vase, etc.]
People say that breakfast are THE most important meal of the day. Well I say that the Eucharist
is the most important meal of our lives. But sometimes we come to this meal with the same
attitude we have with breakfasts.
-But many come here and want to get through this as quickly as possible [show bowl of cereal]
Some of us are just putting in our time and we just want to rush out of here. We say, “Just give
me something fast.” Or we think I don’t want to think too much or get too involved.
-Or we don’t expect much from it [show donut]. We don’t even give God a chance to get to
us. For example, we don’t let the words of the prayers or songs “get to us” for we’re not even
listening. We don’t consider that what Jesus has is of value, it’s not good for us.
-Or we don’t show up at all [show empty tray]. So it’s no wonder that we feel empty in life, or
we feel like we have no direction. We don’t even give Jesus a chance to feed us.
-But we are meant to share in the banquet of God’s grace [show big breakfast]. We are meant
to be fed well and take the time to linger and let God’s “Good News” soak into our lives. This
is how Jesus wants to connect with us . . . not rushed, not giving us junk but feeding us well.
Giving us nourishment.
And what is the “Good News?” It’s called the Paschal Mystery. Paschal means Christ. Mystery
means that we never fully understand it. The Paschal Mystery is the hope we are invited to
receive. That life is stronger than death, that light is stronger than darkness, that life is stronger
than any struggle.
When we receive the Eucharist, we are receiving “hope.” When we receive the Eucharist we
hear, “The Body of Christ.” Which means the Paschal Mystery; we are receiving the mystery
of hope. The mystery of “good news.” That is, hope in the midst of any struggles or worries or
pains. It’s a mystery. I can’t explain it, but I know that it is real.
Come to the table of the Eucharist . . . to the table of plenty. Don’t rush through this. Expect to
find comfort and good news. Stay and linger. Become connected to God again. Let this meal
give you what you need.