Br. Michael

If someone were to come up to me on the street to do a survey on scripture and ask me: “What is your favorite Easter gospel story?”

I would respond “John 21.1-19” – the post-resurrection breakfast on the beach.

Why is this my favorite gospel story? There are three reasons which stand out for me as I reflect on this gospel this Easter Season:

1. Christ meets us in our ordinary routines.
2. Even if we return to familiar patterns Christ meets us there and calls us to new life again and again.
3. The hospitality of Christ is an abundance that leads to mission.

In our ordinary living, Christ is here and present… there is no place that he can’t be, I believe that sometimes this can stun us. What do you mean Christ can meet me at the sink full of dishes, the lonely night on the couch, the walk through the park, or as I fold the laundry or mow the lawn? Well, if our Savior could meet Peter on the other side of the resurrection in his comfortable space of fishing, I think it is safe to say that he will meet us in our ordinary routines.

I have always been intrigued that Peter and this crew of disciples went fishing. Maybe to deal with the grief and shock, or maybe as a place to process the fact that Jesus had appeared to them alive at least two times before this. I know I have spaces that I like to be when I need to process and work through stuff; regular ordinary familiar spaces to me… just like Peter on the fishing boat.

So, in the ordinary, whether broken or healed, seeking or centered, Christ meets us there and invites us to life. It is here in this invite to come and have breakfast with Jesus, something so familiar, that Peter is invited into new life.

In this resurrection gospel – Jesus doesn’t say, “Hey guys, cooked you some fish after your long night of not catching any, come and get it whenever you get a chance.” No, rather, he invites, “Come and have breakfast” they gather, they sit down, and they enjoy a meal. I can only imagine, stories shared, laughter echoing off the lake, questions surfacing, uncertainty trying not to be noticed. Jesus doesn’t freak out on them and say, “guys… really… you went fishing, after all, I have shown you, after my resurrection, you went fishing.” No, he meets them in that moment and then invites them to be aware of the familiar patterns, the ordinary of life, and pay attention to that he is transforming that with new life – with the abundance of God’s goodness, mercy, and deep love.

When Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves him, it’s not about punishment or mockery, it is about depth. The depth of how abundant Christ’s love truly is. It is about this abundance of mercy which Christ pours into his life and then sends him forth… feed my lambs, feed my sheep. That invitation to Peter was not just for Peter, it is for all of us.

What is the last thing Jesus says to Peter in this post-resurrection gospel? “Follow Me!” Those two words probably rang in Peter’s ears when he heard them at the breakfast on the beach, for they were the same two words in which Jesus first invited him to new life, some years earlier. “Follow Me!” Jesus was saying to him: “You followed me in preaching, teaching, and healing, you followed me to the cross, and even though you denied me, still I invite you to follow me in this new life, this transformed life that meets you in the ordinary and asks you to trust that the abundance of God does as Psalm 30 proclaims… “raise me up.”

Consider how this moment impacted Peter and transformed his life, for as we hear in the Acts of the Apostles (5.28-41) how the apostles were witnesses to Christ and rejoiced in being able to claim the name of Jesus. That can only happen from a transformed heart that focuses on the “wisdom, honour, blessing and glory” (Revelation 5) that is Christ meeting them in the ordinary moments of life and transforming them so that they and we also can hear Christ say, “come and follow me”

My dear friends, we are people of the resurrection. We have inherited new life and are called to live it out. Each new day we are invited to begin again, to encounter Christ and see where he is inviting us to dine with him and how he is calling us to break the fast, to be reminded that he dwells so close to us.

Jesus was a great host, including everyone always and extending invitation to even those who choose not to embrace his message of life. There is strength, vulnerability and freedom in sharing a meal with each other. We are reminded of this each time we gather at the Eucharistic table and hopefully each time we gather at our own tables… even if it is by ourselves. We are always invited to dine with our Risen Lord. The Eucharist is the steady invitation to join him again and again and be nourished for the new paths and new realities which are ours. Then the thrice questioned Peter about his love awakens in us the depth of how intimately Jesus desires to be in our lives. He does not see us by our weakness or sinfulness rather he sees us created in love, made of divine light with the capacity to love and make known his love as we feed his sheep.

Peter and the disciples’ story intersect with my story and with yours, as our reality is transformed, our invitation to dine with the Bread of Life is real and our call to love is about life here and now not just on a beach by the Sea of Tiberias.

There is a quote at the front door of my parent’s home. It is a German and Dutch proverb: “Hospitality is freedom and friendship for the guest.” Is this not the abundant hospitality of our triune God? That we are invited into this freedom and friendship each day as the beneficiaries of this hospitality is indeed a great gift in being people of the resurrection. It is the hospitality of Christ that says to us, “come and dine and come and follow me.”

Risen Lord

The gift of Your resurrection

is the abundance of our lives.

Thank You for being present

and for constantly calling us too more

because You love us more than we realize.

Risen Lord you are our all and you invite us to

encounter you again today.

Amen.

Photo credits: Paul Szewczyk and Clayton Holmes

Easter Weekend at Mount St. Francis Retreat Centre

Many people have come in pilgrimage over the years to pray the Way of the Cross during Holy Week, especially on Good Friday.

Individuals and small groups who wish to come to the Mount during the Triduum (Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday) to pray the Way of the Cross are welcome to do so. If you do come to pray outside, please dress appropriately, especially wearing proper footwear. The trails may be slippery.

There are two trails for the Way of the Cross.

Trail 1 is on the South side of Retreat Road across from the main entrance to the Mount. It makes its way up the hill looping down just past the start point.

Trail 2 is across the West lawn on the North side of the property. It makes its way down the ravine in a loop.

Please be mindful of parking and pedestrians in the parking lot.

Please ensure that no garbage is left on the grounds. Garbage Bins are available.

Please respect the quiet and peace of the Mount.

For Good Friday and Holy Saturday Washrooms only will be available at Mount St. Francis Retreat Centre. The Centre itself is closed for the Easter Triduum, please check out local church websites or www.catholicyyc.ca for Triduum Mass Times.

Easter Triduum Blessings

During these Holy Days,

we remember

feet washed and a meal shared,

an angry mob, a cross carried,

the Son of Man crucified and buried,

that death is not the end of the story.

Our God is a God of surprises!

We walk by faith and not by sight alone,

seeking Christ in the midst of life,

planting our hope in Him who lives.

Peace and All Good to you!

Easter Blessings and Greetings from the Friars and Staff at Mount St. Francis.

– Br. Michael, ofm

As I rise up

in the morning light

the voice of God

catches my attention.

I am not condemned,

rather I am sent

to go in the way of life,

a new person,

my sinfulness left behind.

Scripture Inspiration: John 8.1-11

God of Love,

so often I feel caught up in my sinfulness,

and yet each time I feel trapped

you write on my heart:

“You are not condemned.”

May I carry this message into my living

so as not to condemn others

rather to be an encounter of your mercy.

Amen.

Photo Credit: Melita F.

(Lake Ontario, Grimsby Lake Front)

– Br. Michael, ofm

Your name forever,

O God,

is that of love.

Even when we

masquerade it

or perverse it

you remain faithfully

I AM WHO I AM

you who are

love and mercy in abundance

from one generation to the next.

You call us to bear fruit,

for we are planted in you.

When we fail to do so,

you tend to the plant of our life

and once again give us the chance

to bear fruit in love

for eternally you are

I AM.

God, the great I AM,

you know us each by name and love us beyond our knowing.

In these Lenten days and challenging times

guide us in your ways of love and mercy

so, we may bear fruit of love and mercy in this hurting world,

trusting that you are with us now and in generations to come.

Amen.

Scripture Inspiration: Exodus 3.1-8a, 13-15 and Luke 13.6-9

Photo Credits:

Claire Z., Collingwood Cove, AB

John V., Edmonton, AB