Two Mountains - Two Meals

Homily for Wednesday of the First Week in Advent

Two different mountains and two different meals – readings for this Wednesday in the first week of Advent introduce us to the providential care of God.

Jesus has proclaimed that anyone who eats his body and drink his blood will gain eternal life. The reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah points us to this truth. The people who climbed God’s holy mountain are given justice, restoration, and redemption. This was a message of profound hope and comfort to a people who had experienced the pain and destruction of enslavement, exile, oppression, and occupation. The covenantal promise of God to be there for the people would be fulfilled in this reversal of fortunes and the establishment of God’s kingdom. Jesus Christ would come, destroying death forever.

In the Gospel text for today, Jesus himself climbs a mountain by the sea. The people who climb with him bring the lame, the blind, the deformed, the mute, and many others. First, he heals those who are brought to him. The blind see, the lame walk, the mute speak, and the deaf hear. By these actions he identifies himself as the one for whom they have waited these many years. Then he feeds them with seven loaves and two fish. They ate and were satisfied.

The metaphor of the mountain makes it easy to understand the Eucharist as the source and summit of our life. From it comes the feast the Lord has prepared; we gather at the Lord’s feet as the crowds did, asking to be healed and cured. We are fed; and if we climb the mountain a bit, we allow the Eucharist to transform us for God’s purposes. We are also given a better view of the world around us. We can see the world with all its need for God’s mercy and our own hands and feet to bring it, for it is clear that the world is still filled with people who need healing. Just as he asked his disciples to feed the people on that mountain, he asks us to respond to the needs of the people of our community. The Eucharist strengthens us for this very purpose.