Memorial of Saint Francis Xavier

Priest

Wednesday of the First Week of Advent

Biographical Information about St. Francis Xavier

Readings for Wednesday of the First Week of Advent[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible

Readings and Commentary:[3]

Reading 1: Isaiah 25:6-10a

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.
On this mountain he will destroy
the veil that veils all peoples,
The web that is woven over all nations;
he will destroy death forever.
The Lord GOD will wipe away
the tears from all faces;
The reproach of his people he will remove
from the whole earth; for the LORD has spoken.

On that day it will be said:
“Behold our God, to whom we looked to save us!
This is the LORD for 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.
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Commentary on Is 25:6-10a

Isaiah continues today with a vision of the Messiah’s victory. It is a victory that unites the nations and peoples and leads the whole world to salvation. The feast of celebration is described with rich foods and choice wines.

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Responsorial Psalm:[4] Psalm 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6

R. (6cd) I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
In verdant pastures he gives me repose;
Beside restful waters he leads me;
he refreshes my soul.
R. I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
He guides me in right paths
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk in the dark valley
I fear no evil; for you are at my side
With your rod and your staff
that give me courage.
R. I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
You spread the table before me
in the sight of my foes;
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
R. I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
Only goodness and kindness follow me
all the days of my life;
And I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
for years to come.
R. I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
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Commentary on Ps 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6

We are given the 23rd Psalm, one of the most quoted and recited peace of Holy Scripture in the Bible, certainly in the Old Testament. It is at once a profession of faith in God and statement of trust in the reward prepared for the faithful.

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Gospel: Matthew 15:29-37

Moving on from there (Tyre and Sidon)
Jesus walked by the Sea of Galilee,
went up on the mountain, and sat down there.
Great crowds came to him,
having with them the lame, the blind, the deformed, the mute,
and many others.
They placed them at his feet, and he cured them.
The crowds were amazed when they saw the mute speaking,
the deformed made whole,
the lame walking,
and the blind able to see,
and they glorified the God of Israel.

Jesus summoned his disciples and said,
“My heart is moved with pity for the crowd,
for they have been with me now for three days
and have nothing to eat.
I do not want to send them away hungry,
for fear they may collapse on the way.”
The disciples said to him,
“Where could we ever get enough bread in this deserted place
to satisfy such a crowd?”
Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?”
“Seven,” they replied, “and a few fish.”
He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground.
Then he took the seven loaves and the fish,
gave thanks, broke the loaves,
and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds.
They all ate and were satisfied.
They picked up the fragments left over–seven baskets full.
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Commentary on Mt 15:29-37

We hear St. Matthew’s story of the Loaves and Fishes in this passage coupled with a little different reason for gathering. In Matthew’s story Jesus is curing the blind and the lame in other Gospels he is addressing the crowds.

The story demonstrates the saving mission of Christ and how he fulfills the Prophet’s description of his mission and grace.

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Reflection:

The Candle of Hope still burns!

“On that day…”, Isaiah says this numerous times referring to the coming of the Messiah. It is followed by the visions of signs and wonders – the hope for the world that the Messiah brings. Today he envisions the great feast in celebration of God’s rich mercy. For us, looking back on his words from these millennia in the future, we see clearly the reference to the Eucharistic celebration, re-creating the mystery of how God gave himself as a perpetual sacrifice to the world.

Foreshadowing that sacrifice, St. Matthew tells one of the great miracle stories. Jesus, motivated by compassion and love for the people who had gathered to hear him, passes around the seven loaves and the fish. St. Matthew’s story does not give us numbers (those are supplied in the earlier account (Matthew 14:13-21)), but the crowd we know is huge. Jesus has been healing and making whole those in need and his following has continued to swell. Seven loaves of bread are not going to feed this group under normal circumstances.

But the miracle happens. It is documented by all four Gospel authors (it is the only one that is). Isaiah predicts this feast, Jesus fulfills Isaiah’s promise, and later in the upper room the night before his passion, he gives us the everlasting gift of his body and blood in the form of the Eucharist. Many of the faithful do not believe this. They do not believe that Jesus fed the multitudes with just those few loaves, they do not believe that, in the consecration of the Eucharist the substance, the very essence of the bread and wine become the glorified body of Christ. In those who reject that gift – hope is diminished.

Our task and obligation is to help those we encounter make that leap of faith. We recognize that if sacred scripture is not enough to convince them that miracles do happen; that Jesus, whom we profess to be the omnipotent Son of the Creator of all that is, has healed the sick, made whole those who were deformed, and now feeds the multitudes with seven loaves; if they cannot believe scripture on this point, we will not convince them with our words.

What then does the Lord ask of us? If those we encounter cannot make the leap of faith, we at least can show them the benefits in their own lives of accepting the commandments of Christ. Faith is a rich gift of the Father and all are not endowed with the same depth of faith. Today we pray our actions will invite others to follow the Lord and have hope. Today we ask the Father of miracles to enliven our hearts so that through us – His glory may be seen and the faithless might believe and hope in Him.

Pax

[1] ALTRE
[2] The picture used today is “Miracle of the Loaves” by Alxeandre Bida, 1875
[3] Text of Readings is taken from the New American Bible, Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana
[4] Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 1973, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved