Through the First Readings of Monday and Tuesday of the First Week of Advent (Isaiah 2:1-5; 11:1-10), a vision of the House of the Lord is presented.
To the House of the Lord on the holy mountain, people
are streaming from all nations (Isaiah 2:2). There is peace in this place
(Isaiah 2:4). And this House of the Lord is what Christ the Davidic King reigns
and it is where we find peace, harmony, and glory (Isaiah 11:1-10).
In the First Reading of Wednesday of the First Week of
Advent (Isaiah 25:6-10a), we see how God’s abundant and rich providence can
make our lives full for those who make it all the way to the House of the Lord
in the Kingdom of God. The reading opens with these words:
On
this mountain, the Lord of hosts will provide for all peoples a feast of rich
food and choice wines, juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines
(Isaiah 25:6).
For this wonderful feast to take place, all peoples,
from all nations, of all languages, will be united as one, as all dividing
barriers are removed (Isaiah 25:7). In fact, this means that all will be one as
he is in us (John 17:21), making us one body of Christ with one Spirit, namely,
the Holy Spirit, while retaining our respective individual uniqueness (1 Corinthians
12:12-27).
On that day it will be said:
Indeed, this is our God; we looked to him,
and he saved us! This is the Lord to whom we looked; let us rejoice and be glad
that he has saved us! For the hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain
(Isaiah 25:9-10).
As a result of the arrival of the incarnated Christ
and by embracing him in our hearts, we are bound to rejoice and be glad for his
salvific acts, leading us to the unity with him and each other, living a life
of fullness thanks to his abundant and rich providence.
God’s abundant and rich providence, being given, upon
our unity with him and with one another, in he Houe of the Lord on the holy
mountain, when the incarnated Christ comes and reigns as the eternal Davidic
King of the Universe. This is what we are preparing ourselves for, the arrival
of the incarnated Christ, to bring us together to him and to his Kingdom
through his Word and the Holy Spirit. This way, when he returns from heaven,
after his death, resurrection, and ascension, we will be led to the heavenly nuptial
union and its feast, as his bride (Revelation 19:5-9; 21:2), who is us, united
by one Spirit, the Holy Spirit, as one body of Christ, his Church (1 Corinthians
12:12-27).
In the Gospel Reading (Matthew 15:29-37), we see a
reflection of our life in fullness by God’s abundant and rich providence, being
united as one with him, from the First Reading (Isaiah 25:6-10).
The incarnated Christ, whose coming we are preparing
for, will heal broken lives, restore then in fullness, as they stream to him
(Matthew 15:29-31; cf. Isaiah 35:2-6) and provide food to fully satisfy those
who are hungry, even a meager amount of food is available (Matthew 14:13-21;15:32-38;
cf. Isaiah 25:6).
And both the First Reading (Isaiah 25:6-10) and the Gospel Reading (Matthew 15:29-37) are reflected in the Responsorial Psalm (23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6). In fact, all of these are summarily reflected in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, which Christ has instituted during the Lord's Supper on the night before his death (i.e. Luke 22:14-20). For this reason, he is coming for us to have life more abundantly as the Good Shepherd (John 10:10-11) and to give us eternal life by offering himself as the living bread of life, as we come to him (John 6:35-69).
Now we know that our Advent preparation to welcome the incarnated Christ in our hearts is to prepare ourselves to rejoice over God’s abundant rich feast for the fullness of life and in unity as one Body for the heavenly nuptial unity with him.
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