Prophesy Fulfilled

Homily for Saturday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Yesterday’s reading from the Prophet Joel spoke of days of darkness and gloom. Israel was in the strong grip of the famine which was brought about by a lack of rain and an infestation of locusts. Every living plant, every tree, all of the grapevines had been stripped bare by the locusts. This message was a warning to the Israelites who had recently returned from the Babylonian captivity. If they returned to the worship of pagan gods as they had done before the conquest of Assyria, the days of darkness and gloom would envelop them once again. At the end of the prophecy, Joel assured the people that if they returned to their worship of the God of Israel, by the end of the following year the fields, trees, and vines would be restored to provide them with food.

Today’s prophecy speaks of the fulfillment of that promise. “Apply the sickle, for the harvest is ripe; come and tread, for the wine press is full… the LORD is a refuge to his people, a stronghold to the children of Israel.” The prophecy is brought to its conclusion by a restatement of God’s covenant relationship with the children of Israel. “Then shall you know that I, the LORD, am your God, dwelling on Zion, my holy mountain…”

We know that all the prophecies of the Hebrew Scriptures point us toward Jesus as he has reminded us. Jesus has come to fulfill the prophecies of old. In Jesus, we will always have food for the journey as he gives us his body and blood in the sacrament of the Eucharist. We need not fear drought and locusts, for we will always have the spiritual food of the new covenant.

Today’s Gospel text reminds us that our relationship with Jesus has come about because we have heard the Word of God and have acted upon it. Through baptism we have been adopted into God’s family. Both the Joel and Jesus remind us that God sits upon the throne of heaven and will prevail over all evil that may beset us.