The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to contemplate how our spiritual hunger is quenched in the generosity of the Love of God.
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| Lively feast |
The reading from the Prophet Isaiah describes our relationship with God as a feast on the mountain that destroys death itself.
* [25:1–9] These verses praise God for carrying out his plan to destroy the enemy and to save the poor of his people in Zion (14:32), and they announce the victory banquet to be celebrated in the Lord’s city.1
The Divine Shepherd is the image of Psalm 23.
* [Psalm 23] God’s loving care for the psalmist is portrayed under the figures of a shepherd for the flock (Ps 23:1–4) and a host’s generosity toward a guest (Ps 23:5–6). The imagery of both sections is drawn from traditions of the exodus (Is 40:11; 49:10; Jer 31:10).2
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus cures many people and feeds four thousand in the wilderness.
* [15:32–39] Most probably this story is a doublet of that of the feeding of the five thousand (Mt 14:13–21). It differs from it notably only in that Jesus takes the initiative, not the disciples (Mt 15:32), and in the numbers: the crowd has been with Jesus three days (Mt 15:32), seven loaves are multiplied (Mt 15:36), seven baskets of fragments remain after the feeding (Mt 15:37), and four thousand men are fed (Mt 15:38).3
George Butterfield compares the actions of the Lord on Mount Zion, in the dark valley, and on the mountain in Galilee in the form of a prayer.
Don Schwager quotes “The joy of the hope rooted in Christ,” by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD).
"Having said that the Lord will reign in Zion and Jerusalem, Isaiah leads us to the mystical meaning of the passage (Isaiah 25:6-10). Thus Zion is interpreted as a high place that is good for surveillance, and Jerusalem is the vision of the world. In fact, the church of Christ combines both: it is high and visible from everywhere, and is, so to speak, located on the mountain. The church may be understood as high also in another way: there is nothing low in it, it is far removed from all the mundane things, as it is written, 'I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!' (Psalm 47:7-8). Equally elevated are its orthodox and divine doctrines; thus the doctrine about God or about the holy and consubstantial Trinity is true, pure and without guile. "'The Lord of hosts will make for all people,' not just for the Israelites elected for the sake of their patriarchs but for all the people of the world. What will he make? 'A feast of wines on the lees; they will drink joy, they will drink wine. They will be anointed with myrrh on the mountain.' This joy, of course, means the joy of hope, of the hope rooted in Christ, because we will reign with him, and with him we will enjoy every spiritual joy and pleasure that surpasses mind and understanding. By 'wine' he points to the mystical sacrament, that of the bloodless sacrifice, which we celebrate in the holy churches." (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 25:6-7)4
The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 15:29-37 comments the loaves in the seven baskets weren’t really “leftovers.” They were a sign of God’s abundance. He does not ration out his grace, his love, and his provision for us. In fact, he has a never-ending supply!
Just ask Jesus to fill you up again the next time you receive Communion. As you are coming up to receive, pray, “Jesus, I believe this is your Body and your Blood. Come, Lord, and give me your grace.” Then, after Communion, spend a few moments silently thanking him for coming to you. Thank him for uniting himself to you. “Lord, I trust that you are at work now, filling me up. Thank you!”5
Friar Jude Winkler cites the universality in Chapters 24-27 of Isaiah and the belief in an afterlife. The multiplication of seven loaves is intended to speak to the Gentiles of the perfect inclusion of all people at the table of God. Friar Jude reminds us that Jesus intends to satisfy the deepest hunger of our hearts.
The Franciscan Media article on Saint John Damascene, Saint of the Day for December 4, notes that he is known for his writings against the iconoclasts, who opposed the veneration of images. Paradoxically, it was the Eastern Christian emperor Leo who forbade the practice, and it was because John lived in Muslim territory that his enemies could not silence him.
John defended the Church’s understanding of the veneration of images and explained the faith of the Church in several other controversies. For over 30 years, he combined a life of prayer with these defenses and his other writings. His holiness expressed itself in putting his literary and preaching talents at the service of the Lord.6
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, cites Sister Joan Chittister reflection on what it means to suffer through times of doubt or unknowing when it comes to our faith.
The light we gain in darkness is the awareness that, however bleak the place of darkness was for us, we did not die there. We know now that life begins again on the other side of the darkness. Another life. A new life. After the death, the loss, the rejection, the failure, life does go on. Differently, but on. Having been sunk into the cold night of . . . despair—and having survived it—we rise to new light, calm and clear and confident that what will be, will be enough for us.7
Fr Richard believes that even when we or someone we love does die, life has not ended; it is merely transformed. It takes great humility to admit we have suffered through this kind of darkness, because it often sounds like a loss of faith to those who have not endured it. But when everything we thought we knew has turned to “nada,” in the language of John of the Cross, we actually more loving and compassionate human beings, for we no longer rely on our own light but upon the Light of the world living within us.
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