Today the Book of Isaiah gives us a very important prophecy which has been fulfilled through Christ.
From it we heard: “On this mountain the Lord of hosts will provide for all peoples.” “On this mountain he will destroy the veil that veils all peoples.”
So where is this mountain which is being spoken of within the Book of Isaiah and how has all of this been fulfilled through Christ?
The Book of Daniel helps to shed some light on this question with a dream which presents us with a giant statue. This statue was representative of four kingdoms, but a stone broke off from a mountain and smashed this statue. Thus this stone becomes a great mountain and is seen as a foreshadowing of Christ who comes to provide for His Church.
Our Gospel presents us with a parable which is being used to teach us about the wedding feast of the Lord. Some would refer to this as the Supper of the Lamb. Christ provides for His people here, for from this banquet He nourishes us with His Body and His Blood.
Christ, therefore, becomes this great mountain which was spoken of in the Book of Isaiah. From this mountain the Lord of hosts provides for all peoples. On this mountain he destroys the veil that veils all peoples.
In our Responsorial Psalm we are told about a loving Shepherd who provides for the needs of his sheep. Therefore he leads his sheep to verdant pastures, restful waters, and keep them safe in the midst of danger. This is precisely how Christ provides for each of us upon this mountain. From the verdant pasture which is His Body we are nourished, from the restful waters of His Blood our thirst is quenched, and fidelity to Him gives us courage in the midst of any danger which we might have to face.
Hopefully we realize the importance of this wedding feast. We have been invited to attend it, but we sometimes come up with excuses to why this is an impossibility. What we do here is a foreshadowing of what we will do for all eternity in the Kingdom of Heaven.
With this in mind we must place this relationship with Christ first in our life and let everything that we do on this earth flow from this relationship. We must realize that the Mass transcends time and place and thus it gives us fuel to live our life of faith. May we realize that we too are called to go out and to invite others to this feast.
To invite them if they are lax Catholics who are hit and miss in their practice of faith, Catholics who have fallen away from their practice of faith, the unchurched who don’t practice any sort of religion, and even those of other faiths.
Truly from this mountain the Lord provides for all peoples. May we thus allow ourself to be open wide to receive such a gift as we invite other to receive such a gift for themselves.
