Wednesday of First Week of Advent, December 5,2006

Scripture: Isaiah 25:6-10a. Psalm 23. Matthew 15:29-37 For me the Eucharist came to mind and became the focus of my prayer this Advent Wednesday. The Psalm 23 is one of many favorites of mine and it does complement the messianic banquet theme of Isaiah 25:6-10a and shows the same cure and care that God has for us as manifested by Jesus who is seated on the mountain slope. We can always depend upon the compassionate love of God and its manifestation in concrete ways in Jesus' words and actions among us. Today we read and are touched by how Jesus has pity on the crowds who came to hear him. We learn how he heals the blind, the lame, the deformed, and the mute who were placed near or beneath his feet. What a marvelous description of their location and their hopes which are realized in the cures they all experience. We, too, are among them with our brokeness, our blindness, and our physical weaknesses. We come with the same hope they had and we are not disappointed. He is not only concerned about healing us; he wants to sustain us for the journey back home or toward the kingdom of God. He does not want us to collapse on the way. This magnificent scene has a sacramental overtone for us as we look at the passage from the community dimension. We like the crowd are to be sustained by the seven loaves and the fish. My imagination led me to think of the seven sacraments and the symbol of Jesus as a fish. The ancient Greek word for fish comes to mind IXTHUS which is an anacronym for Iesus, Christos, Theos, Hyios, and Soter (Jesus,Christ, Son of God, Savior). Jesus takes the loaves, gives thanks (eucharistein), blesses and breaks them and distributes them through the hands of his disciples. We, too, like the crowd are nourished by this bread of life which is the Eucharist. We are privileged to hear and listen to Jesus's words and then to be fed by him and cared for him as the shepherd does for his sheep (Psalm 23). Thus the Eucharist becomes our bread and sustenance for the Advent journey whether it be for the coming of the kingdom or the remembering the Advent of Jesus being born of Mary in the mystery of the Incarnation. From the word of God given to us to the sacrament of Jesus' body and blood, we daily make spiritual progress on our journey. We have this bread for our journey so as not to collapse on the way. I am led to be thankful for the sacraments of healing and of communion that came to me through reflection this Advent day. I liked the last stanza of this hymn: "With you upon the mountain, Dwell all your holy ones. Their brightness, like a mirrors, Outrivals moons and suns. Our voices from the valley...Rise up in urgent prayer: Come, Christ, and make us holy, That we may join them there."