Patrick Comerford
The celebrations of Epiphany-tide continue today, the Fourth Sunday of Epiphany (Epiphany IV, 28 January 2024).
Later this morning I hope to be at the Parish Eucharist in Holy Trinity Church, Wolverton, and we may go to the Taizé service there this afternoon. But, before this day begins, I am taking some time for reading, reflection and prayer.
Christmas is a season that lasts for 40 days that continues from Christmas Day (25 December) to Candlemas or the Feast of the Presentation on Friday (2 February). The Gospel reading last Sunday (John 2: 1-11) told of the Wedding at Cana, one of the traditional Epiphany stories.
In keeping with the theme of last Sunday’s Gospel reading, I am continuing with last week’s thoughts in my reflections each morning until the Feast of the Presentation:
1, A reflection on one of seven meals Jesus has with family, friends or disciples;
2, the Gospel reading of the day;
3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.
8, Breakfast by the shore (John 21: 1-17):
Saint John’s Gospel concludes not with the Ascension but with another meal, the breakfast by the shore of the Sea of Tiberias after the Resurrection and the conversation that follows (John 21: 1-17).
The Early Church, as it read the Fourth Gospel, would have understood each meal in the light of the Resurrection, with a post-Resurrection faith and understanding, and in the light of the weekly Eucharistic meal. This understanding, of course, would also have applied to Saint John’s account of the Feeding of the Multitude, or the miracle of the loaves and fish.
The feeding with loaves and fish is a prelude to, looks forward to, another meal by the shores of Lake Tiberias – that breakfast with the disciples when Jesus feeds them with bread and fish. Once again, Jesus takes the bread, blesses it, breaks it and gives it to those he is feeding (John 21: 13).
The fish is an early Christian symbol of faith in the Risen Christ: Ichthus (ἰχθύς, capitalised ΙΧΘΥΣ or ΙΧΘΥC) is the Greek word for fish, and can be read as an acrostic, a word formed from the first letters of several words, spelling out Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, Θεοῦ Υἱός, Σωτήρ (Iēsous Khristos Theou Huios, Sōtēr, Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour).
The disciples that Sunday morning are not very successful at fishing, are they (John 21: 3)? So unsuccessful, indeed, that they are willing to take advice from someone they do not even recognise (verse 4 ff).
The disciples are at the Sea of Galilee or the Sea of Tiberias, back at their old jobs fishing. Peter, who denied Christ three times during his Passion, Thomas, who had initially doubted the stories of the Resurrection (see John 20: 24-29), Nathanael, who once wondered whether anything good could come from Nazareth (see John 1: 46), James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who once wanted to be so close to him that they wanted to be seated at his right hand and his left in the kingdom, and two other disciples who remain unnamed … how about that for fame, lasting recognition and success?
They are back on the same shore where there once were so many fish, so much bread left over after feeding the multitude, that they filled 12 baskets (John 6: 1-13). There are not so many fish around this time, at first. But then Saint John tells us that after Christ arrives 153 fish were caught that morning (verse 11).
This number is probably a symbol meaning a complete number. The number 153 is divisible by the sum of its own digits, and it is the smallest number that can be expressed as the sum of cubes of its digits, since 153 = 13 + 53 + 33. Aristotle is said to have taught that there were 153 different species of fish in the Mediterranean.
Whatever they say, the disciples must have thought they had managed the perfect catch that morning.
But the perfect catch was Christ – and, of course, they were the perfect catch for him too. When they came ashore once again he invites them to share bread and fish, to dine with the Risen Lord (21: 12-13).
To eat with the Risen Lord and to invite others to the Heavenly Banquet, so that every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea can say ‘Amen’ before the Throne of God … now that is what I call success (Revelation 5: 11-14).
And when others ask us, Do we love Christ?, when others ask us, Do we love them?, when others ask us, Do we love one another?, will we hesitate, like Peter in this reading, not knowing how to answer?
Or when they ask, will the answers be obvious in the ways we worship, in the way we live our lives, in the way we respond to others?
Mark 1: 21-28 (NRSVA):
21 They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. 22 They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. 23 Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, 24 and he cried out, ‘What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.’ 25 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, ‘Be silent, and come out of him!’ 26 And the unclean spirit, throwing him into convulsions and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. 27 They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, ‘What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He[ commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.’ 28 At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.
Today’s Prayers (Sunday 28 January 2024, Epiphany IV):
The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is: ‘Welcoming the Stranger – A Candlemas Reflection.’ This theme is introduced today by the Revd Annie Bolger of the Pro-Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Brussels:
As we approach the joyful celebration of Candlemas, we also remember the shadows cast over Jesus’ early experiences. Matthew’s Gospel speaks of a frightening threat to Jesus’ life, and an angel warns Joseph to flee from his homeland with Mary and his young son. They narrowly escape and seek asylum in Egypt.
The Holy Family’s refugee status enriches our Christian ethos towards refugees today. Due to climate crises, war, famine and many other factors, the UNHCR estimates that 117.2 million people were forcibly displaced or stateless in 2023. The numbers will only rise in the year ahead and may simply overwhelm us. We cannot possibly imagine the trauma and difficulty that each person’s story represents. That is why Jesus came among us as a refugee: to remind us of the humanity and dignity of every displaced person.
In Brussels, the existing infrastructure for refugees is inadequate, and many asylum seekers are living on the streets. We run a community kitchen in partnership with USPG that provides over 5,000 meals each week to people in need, the vast majority of whom are asylum seekers. This Candlemas, we remember the elderly Simeon taking the refugee child Jesus in his arms and praying for peace. Let us light our candles and remember that the light of Christ shines for all people.
The USPG Prayer Diary today (28 January 2024, Epiphany IV) invites us to pray in these words:
Light our darkness, O Lord,
and reveal the unspeakable
lest we forget the victims of our inhumanity.
Turn our hearts to repentance
and our actions to justice.
The Collect:
God our creator,
who in the beginning
commanded the light to shine out of darkness:
we pray that the light of the glorious gospel of Christ
may dispel the darkness of ignorance and unbelief,
shine into the hearts of all your people,
and reveal the knowledge of your glory
in the face of Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
The Post-Communion Prayer:
Generous Lord,
in word and eucharist we have proclaimed the mystery of your love:
help us so to live out our days
that we may be signs of your wonders in the world;
through Jesus Christ our Saviour.
Additional Collect:
God of heaven,
you send the gospel to the ends of the earth
and your messengers to every nation:
send your Holy Spirit to transform us
by the good news of everlasting life
in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Yesterday’s reflection (The Last Supper)
Continued tomorrow (A banquet with Levi)
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
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