THE BIBLICAL FOUNDATION OF FEASTS!

All Saints Icon of Trier Treves

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Hi Fr. Abe. With the fiesta season at hand, we cannot help but to reason, that these are traditions which invites participation and cooperation of folks in a certain locality. This is also a healthy way of fostering camaraderie. But with the overspending at times of certain sectors in celebrating these events, could we say that these are still relevant especially so ,done in honoring the feast days of our saints.

This was brought one time of a fellow catechist.

Hope to hear your comments soon. Thanks and God bless

bro john

Dear Bro. John,

[With the fiesta season at hand, we cannot help but to reason, that these are traditions which invites participation and cooperation of folks in a certain locality. This is also a healthy way of fostering camaraderie. But with the overspending at times of certain sectors in celebrating these events, could we say that these are still relevant especially so ,done in honoring the feast days of our saints.]

That Catechist view of the Feasts of the Church is very shallow and cheap. He is thinking that we have feasts merely because of local traditions which means they are merely human traditions and also he is presupposing that the main purpose of Feasts is merely for attaining a healthy camaraderie. NO, NO, NO. These are superficial reasons for Feasts: WE HAVE FEASTS BECAUSE GOD ORDERED US TO DO SO. FEASTS ARE BIBLICAL MANNERS OF WORSHIPPING GOD AND THANKING HIM FOR HIS GRACES AND THIS IS A SACRED DUTY FULFILLED BY THE PATRIARCHS, PROPHETS, APOSTLES, AND ANGELS. The Lord Jesus Himself attended Feasts and fulfilled these wonderful celebration for the Glory of the Father.

Let us visit the Bible concerning Feasts:

Gen 19:3 "And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat." [All passages from King James Version unless specified otherwise]

Here, Abraham provided a feast for the Angels. Thus, honoring Angels with Feast is an ancient custom way back the time of Abraham and is Biblical.

Gen 21:8 "And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned."

The Feast can also be offered for human persons like what Abraham did for his son Isaac. That is why we offer a feast for the Baptism of the Child, for the birthdays of family members, for Anniversaries, etc. This is further supported by Gen 26:30 and Gen 29:22. In both honoring Angels and Men, having feasts is Biblical and a very good practice.

Then God Himself requested it:

Ex 5:1 "And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness."

When God ordered Moses to speak to Pharaoh the First Demand is TO HAVE A FEAST FOR THE LORD. The freedom from slavery is only secondary. That is how important a Feast is:

Ex 10:9 "And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast unto the LORD. "

Holding a Feast is a MUST. Only the evil Pharaoh refuses to do the feast but the good Pharaoh offered it:

Gen 40:20 "And it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, that he made a feast unto all his servants: and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants."

The good Pharaoh who became the loving sovereign of Joseph the Dreamer was offering a feast for his servants.

HAVING FEAST IS A PERPETUAL STATUTE FOR THE PEOPLE OF GOD! This is proclaimed by the Sacred Scriptures:

Ex 12:14 "And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever."

The celebration of Feast must be upheld by the People of God forever. It is perpetual ordinance. How come the enemies of the Catholic Faith are so angry at Feasts? They are disobedient to God. In fact God even declared that Feast should be celebrated at least 3 times a year:

Ex 23:14 "Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year."

That is why we have obligatory Feasts throught the year, at least we have 3: THE FEAST OF THE LORD'S RESURRECTION, THE FEAST OF THE LORD'S INCARNATION AND THE FEAST OF OUR PATRON SAINT.

Also the Feasts of the Lord must be a Holy Convocation that is why we gather in a Holy Mass to worship God together during the Feasts:

Lev 23:2 "Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts."

And it must be proclaimed in various seasons:

Lev 23:4 "These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons."

Neh 8:18 "Also day by day, from the first day unto the last day, he read in the book of the law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly, according unto the manner."

For that reason we have Feasts on January to December, in all seasons. Year in and year out we celebrate feasts unto the Lord and His servants the saints and His holy angels.

The prophecies is that on the Messianic Kingdom feasts shall be celebrated:

Psalm 42:4 "holy day" [KJV and "pilgrim feast" [New King James Version]; "keeping festival" [English Standard Version]

INDEED, THE LORD JESUS ATTENDED AND CELEBRATED FEASTS:

Lk 5:29 "And Levi made him a great feast in his own house: and there was a great company of publicans and of others that sat down with them."

Jn 4:45 "Then when he was come into Galilee, the Galilaeans received him, having seen all the things that he did at Jerusalem at the feast: for they also went unto the feast."

Jn 12:12 "On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem"

Jesus came to Jerusalem to attend a feast.

Jn 10:22-23 "And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch."

The reason why Jesus celebrated the Feast because it was an opportunity and an occasion to worship God:

Jn 12:20 "And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast..."

Thus the Apostles reminded us to keep the Feasts:

1 Cor 5:8 "Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."

That is why every Mass is a Feast because it is the Feast of the Unleavened Bread which becomes the Body of Christ.

Jud 1:12 "These are they who are hidden rocks in your love–feasts when they feast with you, shepherds that without fear feed themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots"

NOW THAT WE HAVE PROVEN THAT THE CELEBRATION OF VARIOUS FEASTS ARE BIBLICAL AND DIVINE IN ORIGIN LET US ANSWER THE ALLEGATIONS AGAINST EXTRAVAGANCE:

The Lord is asking us to Feast according to our capacity. If we can kill a pig or a cow then let us do so but if we are poor a piece of chicken or pork is enough. If poorer still a piece of cheese and bread is enough as long as we are worshipping God and honoring Him and His holy people. The Catholic Church never teaches to do extravagance it is the disobedient people who are doing so by their excessive drinking and too much food. But, it is disobedient to God to abolish feasts. We have to correct the mistakes and maintain the blessings of Feasts.