Friday of the Second Week of Easter

Jesus said, “Have the people recline.”
Now there was a great deal of grass in that place.
So the men reclined, about five thousand in number.

As John sets up the story of Jesus’ feeding a large crowd in the wilderness, he underlines two details:

• The Jewish feast of Passover was near.”
• Now there was a great deal of grass in that place.

Just as we tell Christmas stories at Christmas time, the story of Jesus’ feeding the crowd is a Passover story. It relates to the Hebrews’ escape from Egypt, their sojourn in the desert, the Sinai Covenant with its ten commandments, their eating manna and drinking water from the rock, and their triumphal entry into the Promised Land.

This story of luxuriously thick grass and astonishing amounts of food recalls God’s promise of a second honeymoon with his people, a return to the wilderness which was sometimes a lush desert, as Hosea described it:

So I will allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak to her heart.

From there I will give her the vineyards she had, and the valley of Achor as a door of hope. She shall respond there as in the days of her youth, when she came up from the land of Egypt.

On that day, says the Lord, She shall call me "My husband," and never again "My baal."

Then will I remove from her mouth the names of the Baals, so that they shall no longer be invoked.

I will make a covenant for them on that day, with the beasts of the field, with the birds of the air, and with the things that crawl on the ground.

Bow and sword and war I will destroy from the land, and I will let them take their rest in security.

I will espouse you to me forever: I will espouse you in right and in justice, in love and in mercy;

I will espouse you in fidelity, and you shall know the Lord.

On that day I will respond, says the Lord; I will respond to the heavens, and they shall respond to the earth;

The earth shall respond to the grain, and wine, and oil, and these shall respond to Jezreel.

I will sow him for myself in the land, and I will have pity on Lo-ruhama. I will say to Lo-ammi, "You are my people," and he shall say, "My God!" (Hosea 2:16-25)

The rich grass recalls the promise of security, prosperity and ease where the Lord will enjoy a honeymoon with his people. There we will forget all about the idols we have pursued with such frustration and heartache. There God will whisper, "My Beloved" and we will answer, "My Lord and My God!"

Which, of course, lead us into the Mass, as we will learn next week, when the sixth chapter of John breaks open this paschal story.