The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today witness to the abundant life offered to us through our relationship with God in the Trinity.
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| Beside still waters |
The reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah is an invitation to abundant life.
* [55:1–3] The prophet invites all to return, under the figure of a banquet; cf. the covenant banquet in Ex 24:9–11 and wisdom’s banquet in Prv 9:1–6. The Lord’s covenant with David (2 Sm 7) is now to be extended beyond his dynasty.1
Psalm 145 declares the greatness and the goodness of God.
* [Psalm 145] A hymn in acrostic form; every verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Acrostic poems usually do not develop ideas but consist rather of loosely connected statements. The singer invites all to praise God (Ps 145:1–3, 21). The “works of God” make God present and invite human praise (Ps 145:4–7); they climax in a confession (Ps 145:8–9). God’s mighty acts show forth divine kingship (Ps 145:10–20), a major theme in the literature of early Judaism and in Christianity.2
The Letter of Paul to the Romans asks “Who will separate us from the love of Christ?”
* [8:31–39] The all-conquering power of God’s love has overcome every obstacle to Christians’ salvation and every threat to separate them from God. That power manifested itself fully when God’s own Son was delivered up to death for their salvation. Through him Christians can overcome all their afflictions and trials.3
In the Gospel from Matthew, Jesus feeds the five thousand.
* [14:13–21] The feeding of the five thousand is the only miracle of Jesus that is recounted in all four gospels. The principal reason for that may be that it was seen as anticipating the Eucharist and the final banquet in the kingdom (Mt 8:11; 26:29), but it looks not only forward but backward, to the feeding of Israel with manna in the desert at the time of the Exodus (Ex 16), a miracle that in some contemporary Jewish expectation would be repeated in the messianic age (2 Bar 29:8). It may also be meant to recall Elisha’s feeding a hundred men with small provisions (2 Kgs 4:42–44).4
Steve Scholer asks where did the resilience come from, that allowed Jesus to face the multitudes when all he really wanted to do was to be alone? The answer was most likely through his daily prayer life with God. The Bible has numerous passages in which Jesus speaks to his need to be by himself in prayer with his Father, to nurture and deepen his relationship with God, so that in times of deep distress he would have the wellspring of grit and compassion necessary to rise up to the occasion and deal with the hardship of his life on earth. And so, it is with us.
The past months have been hard on most of us. A pandemic, civil unrest and a widening political divide have us looking for a deserted island, where we can block these issues from our minds. Unfortunately, for most of us, that is not an option.
Instead, we need to understand that our daily prayers and quiet times of reflection and solitude are as important for our well-being as daily exercise and healthy eating is for our bodies. Focused time spent in prayer with God can strengthen our resolve and provide us with guideposts to follow when we are faced with difficult days. We can pray for strength and courage to endure the hardships. Most of all, we can pray to not let fear and anger push our love for each other out of our hearts.5
Don Schwager quotes “The Lord fills all things with blessing from above,” by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD).
"So that by every means the Lord might be known to be God by nature, he multiplies what is little, and he looks up to heaven as though asking for the blessing from above. Now he does this out of the divine economy, for our sake. For he himself is the one who fills all things, the true blessing from above and from the Father. But, so that we might learn that when we are in charge of the table and are preparing to break the loaves, we ought to bring them to God with hands upraised and bring down upon them the blessing from above, he became for us the beginning and pattern and way." (excerpt from FRAGMENT 177)6
The Word Among Us Meditation on Romans 8:35, 37-39 comments that Paul’s words must have comforted the early Christians whenever they experienced persecution for their faith. Even when it looked like they were “losing,” they knew they were actually “winning.” They trusted that not even the worst calamity could separate them from Jesus (Romans 8:39)!
These verses can bring you comfort as well. You may be experiencing the kind of anguish and distress that St. Paul described. Or maybe you are repeatedly “losing” to a certain temptation. Whatever the case, know that as you cling to the Lord, you will “win” in the end. One day Jesus will welcome you into his heavenly kingdom, and everything will be made right and beautiful.7
Friar Jude Winkler places the text from Isaiah in the section known as deutero-Isaiah at the time of the Babylonian exile when the prophet is revealing the plan of God to restore the Covenant as with David. The “nature miracle” in the Gospel has links to the verdant pastures and still waters of Psalm 23. Friar Jude reminds us that Paul declares in Romans that nothing can separate us from the Love of God.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that we live in a time of both crisis and opportunity. While there are many reasons to be anxious, he still has hope. Westerners, including Christians, are rediscovering the value of nonduality: a way of thinking, acting, reconciling, boundary-crossing, and bridge-building based on inner experience of God and God’s Spirit moving in the world. We’re not throwing out our rational mind, but we’re adding nondual, mystical, contemplative consciousness. When we have both, we’re able to see more broadly, deeply, wisely, and lovingly. We can collaborate on creative solutions to today’s injustices.
After the Protestant Reformation, the mystical path was largely mistrusted. Some would even say it was squelched because of Martin Luther’s (1483-1546) emphasis on Scripture as the only source of knowledge about God (sola Scriptura). To be fair, Luther’s contributions led Christians to an early stage “rational” use of the Scriptures as a corrective to Catholic over-spiritualization. Within his own Lutheran tradition, profound mystics arose such as the German shoemaker Jacob Boehme (1575–1624) and the inventor Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772).
In the following centuries, German academic theology flourished, relying almost exclusively on Post-Reformation rationalism. While theological study continues to be an immense gift to the world, one can easily get trapped inside of endless discussions about abstract ideas with little emphasis on experience or practice. In contrast, mystics honor the experience of the essential mystery and unknowability of God and invite us to do the same. The more you know, the more you know you don’t know!8
The abundant life in our relationship to Jesus offers growth in thinking and acting to better fulfill our role as His disciples.
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