by Father James Rodriguez
Back in 2022, I was able to visit my parish’s patron saint in Lima, Peru. Standing where St. Rose stood was a remarkable experience and deepened my love for her. My trip included a visit to Machu Picchu, an amazing place that took my breath away for other reasons. At nearly 8,000 feet above sea level, the air is crisp and thin. The headache and shortness of breath were worth it for the view from that great height, and it helped me appreciate an image dear to Isaiah.
The prophecy in today’s first reading is one of my personal favorite passages in all of Scripture. It is soaked in hope and uses vivid mountain imagery. As the place where heaven and earth meet, it’s no wonder that the major covenants of the Old Testament, as well as their ultimate fulfillment on Calvary, would share this geography.
However, Isaiah is not only looking at one spectacular point in history, but the spiritual wildfire that it would spark. On Good Friday, the Lord would destroy death forever. Then, on every altar where the church would gather with a priest, they would do this in memory of the One who is the embodiment of holy communion, heaven and earth mingling, humanity and divinity becoming one. Isaiah foresaw the kingdom of God. He saw you and me gathered around the lamp of the Lamb.
In today’s Gospel, Our Lord gives us another vivid and relatable kingdom image. The wedding feast was a favorite theme of God all throughout sacred Scripture to describe his vision of our relationship with him. For a deep exploration of this particular theme, I highly recommend the book “Jesus the Bridegroom,” by Brant Pitre. You’ll thank me!
Jesus utilizes the celebration of two becoming one to help us see that this is precisely what God wants for us and from us. The covenant bond that takes place where a man and a woman publicly pledge themselves to each other for life is a fitting image for what happens at our baptism. We are given to God like a bride to her bridegroom, and the veil of original sin is peeled away so that we might look on the divine object of our love more clearly.
Throughout the ups and downs of life we are to be purified through suffering, until at long last we pass beyond the world of symbol and shadow into the light we strove to glimpse the whole time.
This light is brightest at the mountaintop since it is nearest, and every time we attend Mass we approach that great height. All week we climb through life, sometimes quite arduously, finally reaching the pinnacle at the churches we call home. It is indeed a great tragedy that so many people skip Mass, thinking it unnecessary and boring. The saints saw what we so often miss: that at every Mass we are fed with even better food than what Isaiah glimpsed.
We are guests at the wedding feast of the Son of God, and the spiritual garments we wear are the works of charity and faith that made our lives a light to others.
May we be splendidly dressed when the Lord calls us home.
May we strive for goodness in this life, and blessedness in the next.
Father James Rodriguez is the pastor of St. Rose of Lima in Rockaway Beach.