Wednesday of the First Week of the Advent, December 5, 2018

On this mountain of the Lord, we shall have everything
Introduction
For Isaiah, the sign of the messianic times is that through the Messiah God will give to his people an abundance of food and drink. People long for life, for peace. Prisoners want to be free, the blind want to see, the hungry want bread. But likewise, people hunger for consolation, friendship, forgiveness, understanding, acceptance, and justice. These desires are fulfilled when Jesus, the Messiah comes. He gives food to his hungry people. And we, his disciples, have to satisfy the hunger of God’s people today. For he acts through us.

1 Reading Isaiah 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.

Responsorial Psalm, Psalm 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6
R. (6cd) 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.

Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Behold, the Lord comes to save his people;
blessed are those prepared to meet him.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Matthew 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.

Commentary
What an astonishing sight it was! A feast for the eyes! When those people climbed up the mountain to be with the Lord, they were a haggard crowd, blind, deaf, dumb, lame, crippled, and ill. But at the end of the third day, after all the healing and feeding, they would have come down the hill, dancing all the way! For, they were fed to their heart’s content, cured in body, and healed in soul. They walked with a spring in their steps and a song in their souls.

This is what happens to everyone who “goes up the mountain” to be with the Lord. There is a transfiguration that happens on the mountain. The Lord wipes away tears from their face and takes away their humiliation before people. The hand of the Lord rests on them. Citizens of heaven, children of the house of the Lord, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord that he may feed us, heal us, and rest his hand on us.

Blessing
The sign that Jesus, the Messiah, is present among his people is that the hungry are fed. Among us today, do we feed them? Do we care for people and give them what they need? We are asked to do as Jesus did. May almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!