Restored satisfied and nourished

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to consider the invitation of God to all people to experience walking in the Divine Presence in our lives.

Feeding our deepest needs

The Book of the Prophet Isaiah describes the restoration, even from death, of all people as they are attracted to the dwelling of the Lord.

* [25:6] This mountain: i.e., Jerusalem’s mountain, Zion.

In the Gospel from Matthew, Jesus addresses the needs of people from pagan regions for spiritual satisfaction and nourishment.

[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).

The restless pilgrim, David Bates, discusses the difference between the feeding of the 4,000 and the 5.000 in the Gospel of Matthew.

Both miracles show the provision of the Lord, His love for all His people, both Jew and Gentile. In these miracles He feeds them with miraculous bread, in preparation for the day when they would be fed sacramentally by His very own Body and Blood in the Eucharist.

Mike Cherney sees in these readings the openness of God’s community to a broader circle.

When I imagine myself in the context of today’s Gospel I see a crowd of new and different followers. Jesus has already worked miracles and fed the 5000 for a Jewish audience. Now I picture Him repeating these acts but this time for broader group of those with faith.
This also leaves me a sense that the Psalm of the Good Shepherd, which was initially meant for the people of Israel, has a universal meaning.

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)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 15:29-37 asks why did they end up with extra bread?

The number of baskets remaining—seven—can give us a clue. In Jewish tradition, seven was an expression of perfection, the kind of perfection found only in God. It took God six days to create the world, and then he rested on the seventh. It was a day of satisfaction and plenty. It was a time to enjoy his creation. In the same way, the bread that Jesus provided satisfied the crowd in a way that no earthly food could (Matthew 15:37).

Friar Jude Winkler comments that the spirituality and the theology of the passage from the Hebrew Testament was likely not written by Isaiah. Jesus nourishes and satisfies the hunger of the heart of a crowd of pagans. Friar Jude connects the 7 baskets to the perfect number that symbolizes Jesus desire to feed every person on the earth.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that Francis of Assisi understood that the entire circle of life had a Great Lover at the center. Franciscan John Duns Scotus, theology has the approach that before God is the divine Logos (rational pattern), God is Infinite and Absolute Friendship (Trinity), that is, Eternal Outpouring (Love).

The Christ who comes forth from the Trinity is both the Alpha and the Omega point of all history (Revelation 1:8, 21:6, 22:13). This metaphysical and cosmic statement gives the whole universe meaning, direction, and goal! God’s purposes are social, cosmic, and universal, not just to hold together a small group of so-called insiders...The incarnation in Scotus’ theology is the whole purpose of creation. Christ is the masterpiece of love in the midst of a creation designed for love, not a divine plumber come to fix the mess of original sin.

Narrow focus on Jesus presence in our close community may be restricting our experience of the universal care of God as expressed in the Psalm of the Good Shepherd.

References

1	(n.d.). Isaiah, chapter 25 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved December 5, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/isaiah/25
2	(n.d.). Matthew, chapter 15 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved December 5, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/15
3	(2014, August 5). What's the difference between the feeding of the 4,000 and the 5,000 .... Retrieved December 5, 2018, from https://restlesspilgrim.net/blog/2014/08/05/whats-the-difference-between-the-feeding-of-the-4000-and-the-5000/
4	(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections - OnlineMinistries - Creighton University. Retrieved December 5, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
5	(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved December 5, 2018, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
6	(n.d.). Meditations - The Word Among Us. Retrieved December 5, 2018, from https://wau.org/meditations/
7	(2017, December 30). 2018 Daily Meditations - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved December 5, 2018, from https://cac.org/2018-daily-meditations/