The Church’s selection of Mass readings is a subtle but marvelous way in which she teaches us to understand the meaning of God’s Word. A key principle at work here is this: Scripture, to be understood correctly, must be read in light of Scripture. Of course we can read a particular passage just by itself, and benefit greatly from it! But ultimately, the full meaning of each passage only becomes clear when that passage is seen in concert with the whole of Scripture, as an instrument in an orchestra is not only enhanced, but ultimately finds its proper place, when it plays together with all of the other instruments, under the direction of the conductor.
There’s so much in each of today’s readings1 that we could reflect upon, especially the miracle in the Gospel in which Christ feeds the five thousand—one of the few scenes that occurs in all four Gospels—which powerfully prefigures the gift of the Eucharist. But one thing that struck me beyond the beauty of each of the texts is the beauty of the harmony between them: how the Old Testament is so perfectly fulfilled by the New, and the New has been prepared for by the Old. In the First Reading, Elisha feeds one hundred people with just twenty barley loaves; the Psalm speaks of God feeding His people, giving us food “in due season”; and in the Gospel, Christ feeds the five thousand with five barley loaves and two fish. The Catechism, following St. Irenaeus of Lyons, calls this ever-deepening harmony and clarity in Scripture the divine “pedagogy,” a word that means the “art of teaching” (CCC 53). By revealing Himself to us gradually over the whole arc of Scripture, God is “teaching” us Who He is.
In this process of teaching, each phase builds on the last. A student doesn’t start out in grade school learning differential equations; he first has to learn addition and subtraction, then later, multiplication and division, fractions, and so on. Similarly, God doesn’t tell the Israelites that He ultimately intends to feed us with His very self in the Eucharist; but He does give them manna (the “bread come down from Heaven”) in the desert through Moses (Ex 16:1-36); the mysterious high priest Melchizedek offers the sacrifice of bread and wine (Gen 14:18-20); God (as we read today) multiplies the loaves of Elisha; and many more Old Testament scenes besides. Even in the New Testament, Christ does not jump straight to giving the Church the Eucharist, but turns the water into wine at Cana (Jn 2:1-11), multiplies the loaves and the fishes in today’s Gospel, and then explicitly tells the disciples that in order to have life, they must eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood (Jn 6:48-69), before actually giving them the Eucharist at Passover and then offering the sacrifice of His life on the altar of the cross the next day.
What does all this mean? It means that God is patient in bringing us to know and love Him. It means that through His Providence, each event in our lives is given to us to draw us into intimacy with Him and to prepare us for even greater intimacy in the future. It means that, no matter how mysterious or mundane, painful or puzzling, this moment in our life is, its meaning and purpose will become more and more clear as we grow in love for Him, until “we see Him as He is” in Heaven (1 Jn 3:2).
What is God teaching you today?
- July 28, 2024, the Seventeen Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B ↩︎