Come and have breakfast
Last weekend Sandee and I participated in our prayer group’s annual retreat. This year’s long weekend took place at a secluded hilltop guesthouse overlooking the ocean. And we were fortunate to be allocated a little detached self-contained tiny house, adjacent to the main house.
Every morning we would walk across to have breakfast. Fifteen of us were divided into four groups that would take turns preparing a specific meal. Each group tried to outdo the other. And I can fondly remember hearing those words spoken by Jesus in this week’s Gospel John 21: 1-19 ‘Come and have breakfast.’
Those meals were prepared with such love that they became more than just food—they became moments of communion, reflection, and grace. Each breakfast, lunch, and dinner felt like a living expression of Jesus' invitation: ‘Come and have breakfast.’
In the Gospel passage, the risen Jesus meets His weary disciples on the shore, prepares a meal, and nourishes them—body and soul. At our retreat, as we broke bread together and shared stories, laughter, and silence, I was reminded that Christ still meets us in these simple, heartfelt moments. He feeds us not just with food, but with presence, healing, and renewed purpose.
Many of Jesus' most meaningful engagements took place around meals. From dining with tax collectors and sinners to feeding the multitudes with just a few loaves and fish, meals were not just about food—they were moments of encounter, inclusion, and transformation. Jesus often used these settings to reveal deeper truths about God's Kingdom, to offer healing and forgiveness, and to restore relationships. Sharing a meal became a way for Him to draw people into communion with God and with one another.
His final teaching before His Passion also took place at a meal—the Last Supper. There, Jesus gave His disciples the gift of the Eucharist, offering His very self under the signs of bread and wine. In this sacred act, He redefined the meaning of table fellowship: it became the place of covenant, service, and love. Even after His resurrection, He continued this pattern—appearing to His followers and breaking bread with them.
This year’s weekend retreat reminded me that Jesus still meets us in our ordinary meals, if we make them moments of forgiveness and fellowship. May we, too, hear His invitation today: ‘Come and have breakfast’—and find in it the grace to begin again.