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Daily Meditation: Isaiah 25:6-10
The Lord of hosts will provide for all peoples a feast. (Isaiah 25:6)
We often hear today’s first reading at funerals because it points our attention toward the heavenly banquet, when God will “destroy death forever” and “wipe away the tears from every face” (Isaiah 25:8). We also pray for our deceased loved one who was “nourished at the table of the Savior,” as he or she feasted on the Eucharist.
So if Holy Communion is a feast, that means that we don’t have to wait until we die to join in the banquet! We can experience a foretaste at every Mass. Every time we receive the Body and Blood of Christ, our Lord gives himself fully to us. Jesus has destroyed the “veil” that once separated us from him. There is no “web” of sin to hold us bound (Isaiah 25:7). He holds nothing back; he offers us his very life! He pours out forgiveness for the sin that weighs us down, comfort in sadness, strength for our journey, and joy in place of the “reproach” of despair (25:8).
God has prepared an extravagant banquet for us. Now it’s up to us to join in the feast. Will we accept his invitation eagerly, or will we give in to indifference, like the guests in today’s Gospel? Invited to a wedding banquet by a king, they were distracted by their own affairs and refused to go. They missed out on so much and settled for so little!
Jesus is inviting you to a banquet today—to the greatest banquet in the world. Like the king in today’s Gospel, he is prepared to nourish you on the finest of foods—his own Bread of life! What do you need to receive from him? Don’t be afraid to ask as you come forward to receive him with humble gratitude, confidence, and expectation. He will give himself to you completely. He may even surprise you by giving you more than you ask. God longs to provide for all peoples—and that includes you!
“Thank you, Lord, for preparing a feast for me today. Jesus, I receive you!”
