Wednesday of the First Week of Advent (December 6, 2023)
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.
-Isaiah 25:6-8a
As we continue to journey through the First Week of Advent, today’s Readings invite us to reflect on the promise of abundance in the Reign of God.
With this in mind, the noted liturgical scholar Adrian Nocent, OSB, offers the following reflection on the “Joy at the table of the Lord”:
The emphasis on the multiplication of the loaves (the Gospel) and on the meal taken with the Lord at the end of time (the First Reading is in full accord with the eschatological orientation established on the first Sunday of Advent. The opening prayer for the Wednesday celebration likewise emphasizes the eschatological aspect (see below)… God will have taken away the veil of sorrow that covers the nations and will have wiped away the tears from all faces, Isaiah tells us…
Cures of the sick, multiplication of the loaves, and eating with the Lord on the last day—these are the signs of God’s reign that is already here and is still coming. —from The Liturgical Year: Advent, Christmas, Epiphany)
Feeding of the Multitude from the “Daniel of Uranc Gospel” (Armenia, 1463)
The pressures of day-to-day life can eclipse the promise of Advent, which seems to pale in comparison with the insecurities and sufferings faced by so many people today. In fact, it is only God’s grace that any of us are able to flourish in a world where so many struggle simply to survive. And yet, as we reflect on the Readings proclaimed on this Wednesday of the First Week of Advent, we are reminded that the One who is to come is able to bring forth abundance and consolation into those very places that seem marked by suffering and want.
Just as Jesus was able to satisfy the hunger—both physical and spiritual—of those to whom he ministered two thousand years ago, the liturgy today reminds us that, in the fullness of time, we too will enjoy the abundance of God’s table that far surpasses the lavishness of that meal of loaves and fishes. The promise of Advent and the Nocent’s “Joy at the table of the Lord” ask nothing more than of us than that we persevere in our attitude of watchfulness and hope, and that we open ourselves to the renewing grace of this holy season.
Prepare our hearts, we pray, O Lord our God,
by your divine power,
so that at the coming of Christ your Son
we may be found worthy of the banquet of eternal life
and merit to receive heavenly nourishment from his hands.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.
-Collect for Wednesday of the First Week of Advent
