Sharing a Meal
Dec. 6: Wednesday of the First Week of Advent
Today is the Feast of St. Nicholas, so please enjoy the memes—
Reading 1
Is 25:6-10a
On this mountain the LORD of hosts will provide for all peoples A feast of rich food and choice wines, juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines. On this mountain he will destroy the veil that veils all peoples, The web that is woven over all nations; he will destroy death forever. The Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from all faces; The reproach of his people he will remove from the whole earth; for the LORD has spoken.
On that day it will be said: "Behold our God, to whom we looked to save us! This is the LORD for whom we looked; let us rejoice and be glad that he has saved us!" For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain.
The “veil” here is a funeral veil—the nations are mourning. We all are, at one time or another, because death touches us all. Isaiah promises that God will remove the veil, make it unnecessary.
Besides being a symbol of mourning, veils, of course, obscure our vision. We can’t see clearly. When the time comes, we’ll be able to rejoice and see God.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6
R. I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
In verdant pastures he gives me repose;
Beside restful waters he leads me;
he refreshes my soul.
R. I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
He guides me in right paths
for his name's sake.
Even though I walk in the dark valley
I fear no evil; for you are at my side
With your rod and your staff
that give me courage.
R. I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
You spread the table before me
in the sight of my foes;
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
R. I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
Only goodness and kindness follow me
all the days of my life;
And I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
for years to come.
R. I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
God doesn’t just plan on inviting us to the final banquet. Everyone will be able to see. Anyone who has chosen to be an enemy of God will know exactly what they’ve chosen.
We definitely want to be invited to that feast.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Behold, the Lord comes to save his people;
blessed are those prepared to meet him.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Advent is a time of preparation. There are a lot of ways to do that—
Gospel
Mt 15:29-37
At that time: Jesus walked by the Sea of Galilee, went up on the mountain, and sat down there. Great crowds came to him, having with them the lame, the blind, the deformed, the mute, and many others. They placed them at his feet, and he cured them. The crowds were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the deformed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind able to see, and they glorified the God of Israel.
Jesus summoned his disciples and said, "My heart is moved with pity for the crowd, for they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, for fear they may collapse on the way."
The disciples said to him, "Where could we ever get enough bread in this deserted place to satisfy such a crowd?"
Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?"
"Seven," they replied, "and a few fish."
He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, gave thanks, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds. They all ate and were satisfied. They picked up the fragments left over–seven baskets full.
The only miracle, besides the Resurrection, that’s recorded in all four Gospels is the Feeding of the Five thousand. This is not that miracle.
This is the Feeding of the Four Thousand, recorded only in Matthew and Mark. Some people try to claim it’s just the same miracle recorded twice, but 1) many, many of the details are different, and 2) Jesus literally refers to them as two separate events in the next chapter.1 In fact, that's where the number 4,000 comes from; it's not mentioned here, but only when Jesus discusses it later.2
Still, they’re similar enough stories that Luke and John cut the second one.3 So why did Matthew and Mark include it? One key difference (which is only clear in context) is that in the first miracle, Jesus is feeding a multitude of Jews; in this one, it’s Gentiles.
The first reading was all about God providing food for everyone, a great feast. Here, Jesus makes it concrete. He’s not just healing the sick of Israel; He’s here for everyone.
“They glorified the God of Israel”—they had their own gods,4 but they turned to the one, true God when they witnessed Jesus’ miracles.
Jesus saw their faith, but also their hunger. He ministered to their bodies (tummies) as well as their souls.
Side note: this is in a section where Jesus calls the Pharisees and Sadducees leaven, then explains He’s talking about bread metaphorically. Which is evidence by implication that, when He says “This is my body,” He’s not speaking metaphorically, or He would have explained Himself again.
Possibly to save space and focus on what they felt was their audience’s concern.
Or so they believed.