2 December: Matthew 15:29-37: Homily

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(Please read this Scripture passage first, before the homily.)

One of the themes of Advent is joyful anticipation.  I therefore asked myself what this reading from the Gospel was doing here in Advent.  Jesus climbed a mountain.  People came to him.  He healed their diseases and brokenness.  Then he fed them.

Then I glanced at the first reading, from Isaiah.  Isaiah saw, as only prophets can see, that the day would come when the Lord would prepare in the mountain an extravagant meal and destroy the web of death and infirmity that blinds us.  That future time is what Matthew presents in the Gospel.

We have just finished our Thanksgiving banquets and we are looking forward to our Christmas dinners.  Advent is also a time for joyful celebration.  Our partying and feasting can help announce the joy of the coming of the Lord.

Our feasting, however, must give us opportunity to invite into our lives and groups those who cannot feast, those who can only wait in hope because they have nothing left but hope.  These include those with COVID19, those fighting discrimination in any form, such as race, color, religion, gender orientation, those bullied by others, those with physical, mental, psychological or moral handicaps.  Refugees, migrants, those without green cards or citizenship, and those with low paying jobs or no jobs are included.  The hand of the Lord rested on the mountain where Jesus sat down and healed the nations and then fed them.

The Lord went up the mountain and cured “the lame, the blind, the deformed, the mute, and many others.”  They all “ate and were satisfied.”

I did not expect to find a banquet when I first encountered this reading for a day in Advent.  I have found, however, the rational for this reading.  I did find an Advent meaning.  The bread and fish Jesus used provided a banquet of fine rich food and choice wine for those on that mountain.  When we provide food for the needy or invite those outside our group into our lives, we provide the bread and fish that turns into rich food and choice wine.  If we only feast with ourselves, then we have a lousy meal no matter how rich the food we eat.  It is in sharing our blessings that makes our meals banquets on the mountain of the Lord.  This is what announces the coming of the Lord.  This makes our festive gatherings Advent celebrations of the Lord.

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