A reading from the prophet Isaiah (25:6-10a)
On this mountain, the Lord Sabaoth is preparing for all peoples
a banquet of rich food, a banquet of fine wines,
of succulent food, of well-strained wines.
On this mountain, he has destroyed
the veil which veiled all peoples,
the pall enveloping all nations.
He has destroyed death for ever.
Lord God has wiped away the tears from every cheek;
he has taken his people’s shame away over all the earth,
for the Lord has spoken.
And on that day it will be said,
‘Look, this is our God,
in him we put our hope that he would save us.
This is the Lord, we waited for him.
Let us exult and rejoice in his salvation.’
For the Lord’s hand will rest on this mountain.
The ‘apocalypse’ of Isaiah in chapters 24-27 points to the future and the end. ‘On this mountain’, surely Sion, God prepares an exquisite feast for all nations. ‘On this mountain’, God will remove the veil over people’s eyes, they will receive their sight, and God will destroy death for ever. God removes the tears of sadness, and the shame of guilt. This banquet symbolises not superficial and transient gifts but the complete healing offered by God. The people recognise in song the gift of salvation, and the presence of ‘the Lord’s hand’ ‘on this mountain’. Salvation, not judgement, is God’s last word.
Psalm 23 (22) What Isaiah promised to the peoples is received in this psalm by the individual at prayer. The shepherd God prepares a banquet, and welcomes people into the house of God.
A reading from the holy gospel according to Matthew (15:29-37)
Jesus went on from there and reached the shores of the Lake of Galilee, and he went up onto the mountain. He took his seat, and large crowds came to him bringing the lame, the crippled, the blind, the deaf and many others; these they put down at his feet, and he cured them. The crowds were astonished to see the deaf speaking, the crippled whole again, the lame walking and the blind seeing, and they praised the God of Israel.
But Jesus called his disciples to him and said, ‘I feel sorry for all these people; they have been with me for three days now and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them off hungry, or they might collapse on the way.’ The disciples said to him, ‘Where in a deserted place could we get sufficient bread for such a large crowd to have enough to eat?’ Jesus said to them, ‘How many loaves have you?’ They said, ‘Seven, and a few small fish.’ Then he instructed the crowd to sit down on the ground, and he took the seven loaves and the fish, and after giving thanks he broke them and began handing them to the disciples, who gave them to the crowds. They all ate as much as they wanted, and they collected what was left of the scraps, seven baskets full.
In this second account of the multiplication of loaves in the Gospel of Matthew Jesus, like God in the Isaiah reading, gives gifts on the mountain. The gifts of healing come first, for the lame, the crippled, the blind and the deaf, and ‘many others’. As in the first reading, the people ‘praise the God of Israel’. To prepare something for the people to eat Jesus relies on the assistance of the disciples. Though hesitant at first, they bring what they have. As at the Last Supper he will celebrate with them, Jesus gives thanks and breaks the bread. It is the disciples who bring the food to the crowds. Jesus uses the seeds of goodness in their hearts so that even among so many people an abundant amount of food remains.
What challenge does the gospel reading present?
Pray for confidence that God never refuses the gifts we need.