Stations of the Resurrection: Station Ten: Galilee

Stations of the Resurrection

By

Raymond Chapman

Station Ten

Galilee

V       We adore thee O Christ and we bless thee

R.        Because by thy glorious Resurrection thou has given life to the world.

Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach, but the disciples did not know it was Jesus … When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. (John 21:4, 9)

The disciples returned to Galilee and went back to their former work. The Lord whom they had seen in Jerusalem was there before them, as he had promised. God and Lord of all, he still came to them as one who served and prepared a meal for them.

We give thanks for food; for the simple necessities and pleasures of life. We praise God for sustaining us and supplying all our needs. We praise him because he holds all things in his power and yet cares for each, keeping us in life now and leading us towards everlasting life.

We are not thankful enough for our food and for the other blessings of our lives; we do not always remember to give thanks before we eat; we do not think enough about those who are in want. Help us always to have grateful hearts and to be mindful of the needs of others

V         Christ is risen.

R         He is risen indeed.

V         Let us bless the Lord.

R         Thanks be to God.

Some of you went back to the familiar lake, back to the places that spoke of home and to a life that did not look beyond the routine of every day. Back to where things might go on as they had been before Jesus came to break and make you. But the world had changed, newly created in a new covenant that demanded less and yet infinitely more.

Tokens of the past were returning, but nothing happen twice the same way. It was another dawn. And you would never see the sunrise without remembering the garden, the empty tomb on the first day of eternal life.

There was a great catch after a barren night, just as he came and preached from the boat, and then called you to follow; but this time, the net was not broken, Peter, of course you were first on shore, wild to meet the Lord you had once begged to leave you in your sinfulness. There was a new challenge for you that morning, love questioning love so that it might be strengthened.

There was bread and fish, the simple things once wonderfully multiplied in the wilderness to meet a crisis of success. Another meal together, there had been so many in the past, until that last one on the evening of sorrow. This was a beginning, a new feeding for more than the hungry bodies. For your Lord had work for you; his teaching, his empowering you had thought was wonderful, irresistible, turning sheep into shepherds.

Risen Lord, let me feel you presence every morning.

Go on teaching me to discern the tokens of Resurrection in my life and other lives and in the world around me.

Feed me so I can feed your sheep.