Opening Prayer: Prov. 9: 1 – 6
Isaiah 55:1 – 3
Welcome to my annotated commentary on Sunday’s readings. The purpose of my commentary is to give you the background for each reading, a little better understanding of its message and the message that all of the Sunday readings together provide us.
Over the past few Sundays, we’ve heard the Gospel of Matthew speak in various ways about the kingdom of God. This Sunday, we experience a taste of God’s kingdom in action. I hope you found last week’s discussion about the Kingdom of God to be helpful.
Before we review this Sunday’s Gospel, let’s examine the short first reading. It’s from the 55th chapter of the Book of the Prophet Isaiah so we immediately know that it’s from deutero-Isaiah, which dates to the time of the Babylonian Exile – 587 – 529BC. And, we will see how it prepares us for the gospel. As you will read in your footnote, in these verses, the prophet invites everyone to return to God, using the image of a heavenly banquet as you will find in Ex. 24:9 – 11 and Prov. 9:1 – 6; I used that for the opening prayer. It is an image you will find in one of the stained glass windows in our church, the seven-columned house is located above Jesus as he turns the water into wine at the wedding feast in Cana.
Isaiah 55:1 – 3
1 All you who are thirsty,
come to the water!
All you who are thirsty, come to the water: In Jn 4: 4 – 15, we read the powerful account of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well. As I’ve mentioned many times in the past, water was an elusive commodity for the people of Middle East, which was – and still is – mostly desert.
You who have no money,
come, buy grain and eat;
Come, buy grain without money,
wine and milk without cost!
2 Why spend your money for what is not bread;
your wages for what does not satisfy?
Only listen to me, and you shall eat well,
you shall delight in rich fare.
3 Pay attention and come to me;
listen, that you may have life.
Pay attention and come to me; listen, that you may have life: You will recall that, when Satan tempted Jesus in the desert by inviting him to turn stones into loaves of bread, Jesus responded, quoting Dt. 8:3: “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.” Let’s turn to that passage. Here, we see Moses, as he calls the people of Israel to observe the whole commandment – the commandments are the pact of the covenant that God wanted to make with his people – to remember that God tested the people and then fed them with manna to teach them that it is the words of God that are truly life-giving.
I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
the steadfast loyalty promised to David.
an everlasting covenant: every time we celebrate the Eucharist, we hear the priest say “the new and everlasting covenant” during the consecration of the wine. This is the everlasting covenant the prophet Isaiah is foretelling: the one established by Jesus shedding his blood on the cross.
It’s easy to see how this reading was selected to anticipate the Gospel lesson. It invites everyone to a banquet that already has been paid for – by the blood of Christ – and it’s worth much more than bread or wine, water or milk and is the only meal that will eternally satisfy. Let’s examine the Gospel passage now. Once again, to really understand the significance of the pericope we will hear on Sunday, we have to read some of the verses beforehand. Let’s read 14:1-12, where we read about the cowardly Herod ordering the death of John the Baptist. You can imagine how news of his cousin’s death must have affected Jesus and his followers. He was now also in danger so, as he mourned John’s death, he needed to get away to regroup. Sunday’s passage begins with mention of his withdrawing to a deserted place by himself; it was probably across the Sea of Galilee from his hometown of Capernaum to what is now called the Golan Heights. This was a deserted region then and is still deserted today; as you know, it is the disputed buffer zone between Israel and Jordan.
Now that we have the background, let’s examine Sunday’s verses:
Matthew 14:13-21
As I mentioned earlier, this week, we hear the message about the kingdom of God acted out in the feeding of the 5,000. As you will see in your footnotes, this miracle is the only one recounted in all four gospels; even the Gospel of John includes it and Matthew’s Gospel seems to repeat it with a very similar account in 15:32 – 38. The principal reason for this miracle having such a prominence in the gospels may be that it was seen as anticipating the Eucharist and the final banquet in the kingdom (cf. Mt 8:11; 26:29). But, remember that Matthew’s Gospel is written to a Jewish Christian audience so it constantly shows Jesus as the fulfillment of the Hebrew Scripture. This passage recalls the feeding of Israel with manna in the desert at the time of the Exodus (cf. Ex 16), a miracle that in some contemporary Jewish expectation would be repeated in the messianic age (2 Bar 29:8). It also recalls Elisha’s feeding a hundred men with small provisions (cf. 2 Kgs 4:42–44), indicating that Jesus is even greater than the great prophet, Elisha.
Now, let’s study the gospel passage:
14 When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick.
the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity: we see that Jesus had developed quite a following; his charismatic personality, miracles and teaching with authority drew many to him. So, instead of finding a place to be by himself to mourn the death of his cousin and contemplate his future, he is faced with a large, needy crowd. Notice that, rather than getting back into the boat to find another place for himself or chasing the crowd away, he cared for them. The word that is translated into the English word “pity” is a strong, onomatopoeiac word – éσπλαγχνίσθη – “esplangxnisthe”. You can just hear the gut-wrenching feeling he was experiencing. It was this strong pity that he felt that led him to tend to the sick, curing them as a sign of God’s love for them.
15 When it was evening, the disciples approached him and said, “This is a deserted place and it is already late; dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.”
deserted place: remember where they are; there aren’t any Wawa’s nearby. In fact, there weren’t even any towns nearby so the disciples suggestion really wasn’t a viable one; they’re just trying to get rid of the crowd.
16 [Jesus] said to them, “There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves.”
give them some food yourselves: This is a challenging instruction. Jesus had cured the sick and even calmed the sea but he hadn’t fed a crowd yet. Why would he expect his disciples to understand this instruction? Clearly, he was testing them; this account doesn’t mention that but John’s Gospel account does.
17 But they said to him, “Five loaves and two fish are all we have here.”
18 Then he said, “Bring them here to me,”
19 and he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds.
Taking…blessing…broke…gave: as you will read in your footnotes, the taking, saying the blessing, breaking, and giving to the disciples correspond to the actions of Jesus over the bread at the Last Supper (Mt 26:26). The footnote remarks that, since they were usual at any Jewish meal, that correspondence does not necessarily indicate a eucharistic reference here, but it could; since Matthew’s Gospel is addressed to a Jewish Christian community, they would certainly have grasped the similarities. Matthew’s silence about Jesus’ dividing the fish among the people (Mk 6:41) is perhaps more significant in that regard.
20 They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the fragments left over -twelve wicker baskets full.
fragments left over: as in Elisha’s miracle, food was left over after all had been fed. The word fragments (Greek κλασματα – “klasmata”) is used, in the singular, of the broken bread of the Eucharist in Didache 9:3–4.
21 Those who ate were about five thousand men, not counting women and children.
Clearly, this passage prepares us for the heavenly banquet, prophesied in the first reading. But, it also reminds us that God will always care for us. Unlike ourselves, who might be tempted to limit our generosity – especially when we are suffering ourselves – God’s abundance is never outdone; we just have to put our trust in him.
Romans 8:35, 37 – 39
We hear a few more verses of Paul’s letter to the community in Rome this Sunday. The section we will hear picks up shortly after where we left off last week. It continues Paul’s reflections on the power of Christ’s love in the face of the trials of this world. Remember, Paul is being taken to Rome in chains to be put to death by the sword. Let’s examine the reading.
35 What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword?
36 As it is written:
“For your sake we are being slain all the day;
we are looked upon as sheep to be slaughtered.”
For your sake we are being slain: Paul quotes Ps 44:23, where the people of Israel are depicted as wondering why God is punishing them because they are unaware of any fault on their part. Paul applies it to the Christian community in Rome; they, too, are suffering persecution from the Romans and anguish and distress from their fellow Jews. Paul speaks of such suffering often: cf. 1 Cor 4:9; 15:30; 2 Cor 4:11; 2 Tm 3:12.
37 No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us.
in all these things we conquer: We hear the same assurance in 1 Jn 5:4.
38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers,
39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
present things… future things…height…depth: If you check your footnotes, you’ll notice that all of these terms speak of astrological concepts, so popular among the ancient Romans; they’re still very important to the modern-day Italian, even those who consider themselves to be practicing Catholics.
Powers: cf. Eph 1:21; 1 Pt 3:22.
These readings all assure us that God will care for us in our needs; we just have to trust in him. That’s such an important lesson for us to hear especially today as we all struggle with the coronavirus pandemic and we Catholics find ourselves at odds with so many who have left the faith or never really embraced it.