Advent is in-between time. We live in the in-between time – between Jesus’ historical birth and his second coming. The prophet today announces that the veil that covers our lives and our hearts will be eliminated, giving rise to a new time, a new creation. That is a new you, a new me, a new family, and a new neighborhood. The Gospel shows us Jesus as the Savior and initiator of that new time, new creation marked by joy and hope. Joy from Jesus’ birth in our midst and hope looking to his second coming.
After spending a long three days preaching to a great multitude Jesus is overcome in his heart with pity for the hunger in the crowd. This shows us God’s constant concern for our wellbeing. So often we let ourselves be overwhelmed with despair thinking that God has abandoned us and is not part of our lives. The incarnation of Jesus and his life of service demonstrate to us the loving, caring concern of a Father. I have always been struck by Jesus’ action at the beginning of the Multiplication of the Loaves. He asks the disciple what resources they have. Then with those obviously inadequate resources he prays the thanksgiving and has them distributed the loaves. Thus, he invites them into the process of this miracle. This is not just mana that falls from the sky as a sign of God’s care and love. Here, the veil of the fear of death and selfishness were destroyed that day through the action of our Savior. The disciple’s presence with the Savior and the surrender of their personal will to the concerned heart of the Savoir produced an unexpected and unknow miracle. The heart of Jesus and the hearts of those present were joined in a new way that day.
Do not be confused, this is not just a day of overwhelming, sweet human generosity – something akin to our Thanksgiving Day meals at shelters for the homeless or toy drives for poor children during the month of December. Those activities are laudable and important; but they are always calculated and controlled moments in our lives. Rather we see something new here. Jesus invites us into his concerned, loving heart. He is inviting us to stop living for ourselves and to live in confidence inside his heart, the heart of God. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke relate that the disciples apparently had a long discussion: How they could feed the so many hungry folks? They took stock of their resources and counted the number of people. Their calculated the location and the distance to the nearest town? How much it would cost to buy supplies? Where could they buy the supplies? Where would they have to send the folk? Human generosity and their own resources could not resolve this challenge. In the end, after being with him for three days, the disciples handed over to Jesus all they had to live that day. They turned over all their life to him.
That final act of hope and confidence in Jesus produced an abundance of life, a new form of life. It destroyed the veil of death, fear, and selfishness. It even did away with our own sugar coated, self-righteous concept of our personal or communal human generosity. In this in-between time, we are called to live in joyful hope of being inside the heart of Jesus. Pilgrims of hope to everyone around us.
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.