Wednesday of the First Week of Advent
Is 25: 6-10a; Mt 15: 29-37
Deacon Larry Brockman
Two mountains; two feasts; and the mercy of God. That’s what we heard about today in both readings today.
The gospel story has both a literal and a symbolic meaning. In a literal sense, we see that Jesus shows an incredible amount of mercy and compassion. Not only does he heal all the blind, the sick, the deformed, the mute, and the lame brought to him; but he meets the bodily needs of the whole crowd whom he senses is famished after following him for days. Jesus was always thinking of others, not himself.
Just imagine how exhausted Jesus must have been. After all, he was faced with a constant stream of desperate people for days; and yet the further away he travelled to get some peace; the more crowded it got; the more individuals he had to heal. Finally, he ends up on the mountain with nowhere to go!. Even after all that, His focus was on everybody else, not himself.
Now human beings are limited in their capacity to show mercy and compassion. And since Jesus was fully human, he was under those limitations But this story gives us just a hint at the breadth and depth of the mercy and compassion of God. Jesus, God made fully human, demonstrates mercy and compassion almost beyond human capacity in this story. And yet God himself has no such limits. That’s what the literal part of the gospel tells us. It tells us to rejoice over the unlimited mercy and compassion of God.
The gospel also has a symbolic meaning. And that meaning is foretold in our first reading from Isaiah. Isaiah has been called the Gospel of the Old Testament because it foretells so much about Jesus life and mission.
Today’s first reading is an apocalyptic vision of “the mountain of God”, that is, the Holy City of Jerusalem in the Kingdom of God. The feast with fine wines and rich foods is the heavenly reward of all those who enter its gates. When the Lord Comes again, we are all hoping we will follow him into this final place of rest and satisfaction. Death will be destroyed there, yielding everlasting life for its inhabitants. There will be no tears, and all nations will live in harmony. The reproach of the people will be removed; so, all sins will be forgiven. And as Isaiah himself says “Behold our God to whom we looked to save us!” So, we will all be in the presence of God. This is the ultimate vision of the mercy and compassion of God; a vision of salvation and happiness for all those who are saved.
Today’s gospel has all the same symbols- the mountain symbolizes the Kingdom; the healing of all the infirmities symbolizes forgiveness of any and all of our brokenness; and the bread and fish symbolize nourishment for all by God himself. Jesus is God made man and symbolizes our presence in the Kingdom with almighty God.
We are in the early part of Advent. We are all being called to joyful expectation of the Kingdom like the crowd in Jesus’ time, We need to be desperate for healing; humble and contrite in our approach; and hungry for what really satisfies our hunger. If we are, then we can joyfully anticipate the limitless mercy and compassion of Jesus when he comes; and the rich feast in the Holy City of Jerusalem will be ours!