The Challenging St. Nick

Wednesday of the 1st Week of Advent

Feast of Saint Nicholas, Bishop

Isaiah 25:6-10

'On this mountain...'

Matthew 15:29-37

'He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground. 

Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, 

gave thanks, broke the loaves, and gave them'

Isaiah describes the feast of all feasts 'on this mountain' with evocative words:  

Rich

Choice

Juicy

Pure

And 'on this mountain' the Lord will destroy 'the veil that veils all peoples.'

At the crucifixion Matthew, Mark and Luke narrate how the 'veil of the temple was rent from top to bottom.'

What is the connection?  The feeding of the multitudes with a few loaves and a couple fish perhaps demands of us a vision unhindered by veils...blind spots, if you will.  Multiplication happens when we see gifts hiding in plain sight.

This icon of Saint Nicholas was given to me by my teacher and mentor, Fr. Thomas Richstatter, OFM fifteen or so years ago. He picked it up from a dusty street market in Paris long ago. As suggested in my Advent Sourcebook  I attached the icon to this commentary by St. Basil.
   
Although terribly difficult and perhaps with a fair degree of cowardice, I read it gently, not as indictment, but as loving prod:

What keeps you from giving now?
Isn't the poor person there?
Aren't your warehouses full?
Isn't the reward promised?
The command is clear:
the hungry person is dying now
---and you want to wait until tomorrow?
"I'm not doing any harm," you say.
"I just want to keep what I own, 
that's all."
You own!
You are like someone who sits down in a theater and keeps everyone else away,
saying that what is there for everyone's use is your own...
if everyone took only what they needed and gave the rest to those in need, there would be no such thing as rich and poor.
After all, didn't you come into life naked,
and won't you return to the earth naked?

-St. Basil, 4th Century(found in Advent Sourcebook, p 45, December 6: Nicholas.)

St. Nicholas
Bishop of Myra (in present day Turkey)
Died in the middle of the 4th Century
Venerated because of his help to the poor

St. Nicholas,

Patron Saint of Pawnbrokers

Pray for us.