Mensa Christi

Before Jay and I left for Israel I read this quote from a prayer by St Columba, one of the Celtic Christian Missionaries who traveled and worked in Ireland, Scotland and England: This day is your love gift to me.

I copied it into the journal I took with me on my trip, as a prayer to receive each day, each part of the trip as a gift of love. This day is your love gift to me. When I read it to Jay, who knows I can be a pretty anxious traveler, he asked, “what if something goes wrong? Is that part of the love gift too?” “I think so,” I replied.

And I noticed it this morning as I was paging through that journal in preparation for writing this reflection today. This day is your love gift to me. It was easy to receive each day as a gift in the excitement of our trip – seeing new places, receiving good teaching, eating good food, not being in charge of anything or anyone other than myself....

One of my favorite places we visited was a site called ‘Mensa Christi’ – a place on the shore of the sea of Galilee where there was a large flat rock, like a table (mensa), where Jesus may have met the disciples for breakfast after his resurrection. It’s the place associated with John 21, where Jesus had the difficult conversation with Peter, when he asked Peter three times, “Do you love me?” and then said to Peter again, “Follow me.” I was so excited when we visited that I couldn’t resist getting into the water, wanting to be like Peter jumping out of the boat with eagerness to see Jesus!

I have a deep appreciation for Peter – for his bold words and actions and especially for his failures and mistakes. I find Jesus’ love for him and work with him so reassuring. Jesus doesn’t give up on Peter. He keeps calling him, “Follow me.” And I feel a deep connection to this story – it was preached for Jay’s ordination at Boston Square and for my installation at Boston Square too. I tend to connect it to my call to ministry, to hear in it a reminder of Jesus’ grace and how my first calling is to love Jesus, to love his people, to follow Jesus.

But of course it’s not just a story for people called to ordained ministry. Those words, “follow me,” are Jesus’ invitation to each of us. And Jesus invites us over and over, each day, to follow him. In whatever our circumstances, Jesus is inviting us to follow him, to love him and others.

I’m reminded of this of assurance of pardon that we sometimes use in our liturgy at Boston Square: These are words of Jesus. They are strong and true, so believe them: “I have come so you may have life in all its fullness.” “Go in peace; your sins are forgiven.” “Come, each one and follow me.”

In some ways our lives have changed so much since Jay and I traveled to Israel, and in some ways they haven’t changed at all. Each day, whether something goes wrong or not, is a love gift from God. And in each day, Jesus is inviting me to follow him.