[Apologetics] The Bread of the Berith

[Dianne Dawson]

 The Bread of the Berith: The Readings of the 
Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time 
  
Holy 
Mother Church serves up a rich fare for us in the Liturgy of the Word this 
week. 
We begin 
with one of the most striking prophecies of the Book of Isaiah: 
Is 55:1-3 
Thus 
says the LORD:
All you 
who are thirsty, 
come to 
the water! 
You who 
have no money, 
come, 
receive grain and eat; 
Come, 
without paying and without cost, 
drink 
wine and milk! 
Why 
spend your money for what is not bread; 
your 
wages for what fails to satisfy? 
Heed me, 
and you shall eat well, 
you 
shall delight in rich fare. 
Come to 
me heedfully, 
listen, 
that you may have life. 
I will 
renew with you the everlasting covenant, 
the 
benefits assured to David.

Like 
many oracles in the Book of Isaiah, the prophetic author provides very little 
information about the time or place when this oracle will be fulfilled.In antiquity, the second half of Isaiah (chs. 
40-66) seem to have been understood as a long description of the Messianic or 
Final Age (the Latter Days). 
This 
oracle is an invitation to the thirsty, hungry poor to come to the LORD, who 
will simultaneously: (1) provide them with a satisfying meal, (2) grant them 
life, and (3) renew with them the Davidic covenant. 
Hebrew 
poetry operates on the principle of parallelism, whereby paired poetic lines (a bicola) are mutually illuminating.  
Thus, 
the final verse of this reading is describing one action, not two.We should read as follows: 
I will renew with you the 
everlasting covenant (Heb. berith 
‘olam), 
that is, the covenant love assured 
to David (Heb. hasdey dawid 
hane’emanim) 
The 
“everlasting covenant” (berith ‘olam) 
is nothing other than the hesed or 
covenant love that was given to David (hasdey david).In other words, the “everlasting covenant” is 
a restoration or transformation of the Davidic covenant.The word hesed (appearing here in the masculine 
plural construct form hasdey) is a 
very important term in the Hebrew Bible.It designates the love appropriate for covenant partners, and is 
frequently found in the near vicinity of the term berith and other words associated with a 
covenant relationship.Hesed is arguably the most important 
concept in the Book of Psalms, the canonical message of which is summarized by 
the phrase, “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, and his hesed endures forever” (e.g. Pss 100; 
106; 107; 136). 
The main 
text of the Davidic covenant is widely understood to be 2 Samuel 7:4-17 (but see 
also Psalm 89:1-37).According to this 
covenant, David and his sons enjoyed the privileged status of Divine sonship and 
were promised to rule over the entire earth. 
Isaiah 
55:1-3 foresees a coming age when the LORD will extend the privileges of the 
Davidic covenant to all the poor of the earth who come to him.Arguably, this passage is an important but 
often forgotten background text for the Beatitudes which we read some weeks 
ago: 
Matt. 
5:3“Blessed are the 
poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 
... 
5“Blessed are the meek, for they shall 
inherit the earth. 
6“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst 
for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 
... 
9“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they 
shall be called sons of God. 
10“Blessed are those who are persecuted 
for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 
 
Aren’t the poor, the 
hungry, and the thirsty the invitees of Isaiah 55:1-3?And isn’t the Kingdom of Heaven (2 Chron 
13:8), the entire earth (Ps 89:25-27), and divine Sonship (2 Sam 7:14; Ps 89:26) 
the promises of the Davidic covenant? 
 
Nonetheless, 
Holy Mother Church pairs this OT text today in order for us to make the 
connection between the promised covenant-bestowing meal and the Feeding of the 
5,000. 
The 
Responsorial Psalm focusses our thoughts on gratitude for God’s provision of our 
needs and the needs of all creation.In 
light of the Eucharist we are celebrating, we should understand God’s provision 
not only in a physical and material sense, but in a spiritual and sacramental 
sense.The deepest hungers of the soul 
are satisfied by the living God: he answers all our needs, even the most 
profound. 
Ps 145:8-9, 15-16, 17-18 
Responsorial 
Psalm 
R. (cf. 
16) The hand of the Lord feeds us; he 
answers all our needs. 
The LORD 
is gracious and merciful,  
slow to 
anger and of great kindness. 
The LORD 
is good to all 
and 
compassionate toward all his works. 
R. The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers 
all our needs. 
The eyes 
of all look hopefully to you, 
and you 
give them their food in due season; 
you open 
your hand 
and 
satisfy the desire of every living thing. 
R. The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers 
all our needs. 
The LORD 
is just in all his ways 
and holy 
in all his works. 
The LORD 
is near to all who call upon him, 
to all 
who call upon him in truth. 
R. The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers 
all our needs. 
The 
Second Reading is part of the ongoing lectio continua of Romans in this period 
of the Church’s Lectionary.Although it 
does not have explicitly Eucharistic themes, we do see in it a description of 
God’s hesed, his covenant 
love. 
Rom 8:35, 37-39 
Reading 
II 
Brothers 
and sisters: 
What 
will separate us from the love of Christ?  
Will 
anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine, 
or 
nakedness, or peril, or the sword?  
No, in 
all these things we conquer overwhelmingly 
through 
him who loved us.  
For I am 
convinced that neither death, nor life, 
nor 
angels, nor principalities, 
nor 
present things, nor future things, 
nor 
powers, nor height, nor depth, 
nor any 
other creature will be able to separate us 
from the 
love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 
Hesed is a 
specific kind of love.It is not 
infatuation,nor merely affection, nor 
is it simply eroticlove, all it may 
include eros and indeed can and does 
describe the relationship between husband and wife (e.g. Jer 2:2; Hos 
2:19).But most of all, hesed is a love of fidelity, a love that 
does not fail.St. Paul beautifully 
captures the hesed of Jesus Christ in 
this passage of Romans. 
Finally, 
the Gospel: 
Mt 14:13-21 
Gospel 
When 
Jesus heard of the death of John the Baptist, 
he 
withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself.  
The 
crowds heard of this and followed him on foot from their towns.  
When he 
disembarked and saw the vast crowd, 
his 
heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick.  
When it 
was evening, the disciples approached him and said, 
“This is 
a deserted place and it is already late; 
dismiss 
the crowds so that they can go to the villages 
and buy 
food for themselves.”  
Jesus 
said to them, “There is no need for them to go away; 
give 
them some food yourselves.”  
But they 
said to him, 
“Five 
loaves and two fish are all we have here.”  
Then he 
said, “Bring them here to me, ” 
and he 
ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass.  
Taking 
the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, 
he said 
the blessing, broke the loaves, 
and gave 
them to the disciples, 
who in 
turn gave them to the crowds.  
They all 
ate and were satisfied, 
and they 
picked up the fragments left over— 
twelve 
wicker baskets full.  
Those 
who ate were about five thousand men, 
not 
counting women and children. 
Although 
the text is not explicit, we are probably correct to assume these crowds were 
made up of the common and poor people of the land, rather than the wealthy 
elite.We here the themes from Isaiah 
55--Jesus is providing a free, satisfying meal to the hungry and thirsty 
poor. 
But the 
language Matthew employs is intended to remind us of another incident in Jesus’ 
ministry, in which he also “takes loaves,” “blesses,” “breaks,” and “gives” them to the disciples.Of course, this is language from the 
narrative of the Institution of the Eucharist (Matt 26:26), which is indeed the 
covenant meal promised by Isaiah 55.Specifically, it is a meal which extends the covenant of the Son of David 
to those who participate in it. 
The 
Feeding of the 5,000 in Matthew, as in the other Gospels as well, is an 
anticipation, foreshadowing, and type of the Eucharist, the meal which along 
truly satisfies and “answers all our needs.”It is the meal by which we enter the Davidic Covenant, receiving the gift 
of Divine Sonship and kingship over the earth.Out of his loving concern to provide this meal for us, Jesus endured 
“anguish,distress, persecution, 
nakedness, peril, sword,” and ultimately, death
http://www.thesacredpage.com/2011/07/bread-of-berith-readings-of-eighteenth.html


Like a deer that longs for running waters so my soul longs for you, O God.
Ps 42:1
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