When we talk about the Kingdom of Heaven, we Filipinos always think of happiness, peace, joy, love and what we largely regard as the most desirable thing in this world. As is always the case, we reinvent heaven as a mirror of our own time.

And sometimes, we depict heaven as a marriage celebration or a wedding feast.

Through the Prophet Isaiah, God tells us that He will provide for all peoples a feast of rich food and pure, choice wines. Saint Paul tells us that God will provide whatever we need according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus. While on the surface, these two aspects of God's provision may seem completely unrelated, they are referring to the same thing. The means to obtain what God wants to give us is found in the Gospel: those who choose to attend the marriage of the King's Son will receive all that God is giving.

What does all this mean? First, we must begin with the mountain on which the feast is provided. We are also told that death would be destroyed on that mountain and that the reproach of God's people would be removed. Indeed, on this mountain, the people will recognize the Lord to Whom they look to save them.

One would naturally assume this mountain to be Mount Zion or the mountain on which the Temple of the Lord was built. On one hand, this would be correct because it is where the death and resurrection of our Lord took place. Death was destroyed there, and our sins were nailed to the Cross; on that mountain, we recognize the love of God in the Person of Jesus Christ.

We must understand that Jesus destroyed death in His Person. As Jesus died, He entered Sheol, the abode of the dead, and He rose from that place and conquered death. That, however, is just a fraction of what He did. He revealed life because He is life itself.  When we recognize Jesus, we recognize life, truth, and love; we recognize God, to Whom we look to save us.

In this way, we realize that when God provides this feast on the mountain, we are not speaking merely of physical food that sustains us, but spiritual food that is the Bread of Life, that is the Holy Eucharist. This is the richest, choicest food possible because it is God Himself. This is the banquet at the wedding of the King's Son. More than this, He is the Bridegroom Who gives Himself entirely to us and for us.  We are invited to the wedding, not as guests, but as members of the bride.