As I was meditating on the first reading, a particular verse kept catching my attention. This intriguing statement about the veil: “On this mountain, he will destroy the veil that veils all peoples, The web that is woven over all nations.” That’s intriguing to me. Both readings have a Eucharistic theme to them, right? They remind us of why we gather in the church, at the altar, with the Priest. But this veil thing? What does that mean? It’s interesting that here in Advent, we read one of the readings we hear most often at a funeral. That also puts us in mind of the funeral veil, right? A veil means mourning and sadness. That is indeed the veil we are talking about here; in the part of the world where this was written, veiling was and still is a sign of mourning for the dead.
Destroying that veil, then, is the destruction of the veil of death and the veil of ignorance. The cool part is that the destruction of the veil was an act that is also a part of the local custom, part of a royal banquet. It was customary for a king at a banquet to perform an act of power, a deed of heroism, a feat of strength to show his dominance. To remind the people why he was king. The previous chapter in Isaiah goes into great detail about the curse of death we were under before the feast. Here at the end of time, God has swallowed up death itself as His act of power. His divine providence is proven in that even death takes a back seat to God.
That’s why we have this reading during Advent. Because while we are waiting for Jesus to come on Christmas, we are also waiting for Him to come in the Eucharist, in the Sacraments of the Church. The final victory is indeed something that will happen at the end of time, but it’s also something we are a part of right here, right now. The victory of God is one over death and sin, ignorance, and sorrow. In the incarnation of Christ, the same Jesus who is fully present to us in the Eucharist, we come face to face with God. When we begin to see that with our hearts… when our Amen resounds with the truth of God’s presence and the realization that right here, right now, we ARE on His Holy Mountain, and He is right here before us in all of His splendor and glory. And we… we have been invited to share in His victory feast!
A reflection on the readings for Wednesday of the 1st Week in Advent: December 1, 2021