Advent is the season of joyful expectation, but this year it falls in the wake of a great loss for our Catholic faith community at Yale, the death of our beloved chaplain for nearly 25 years, Fr. Bob Beloin.

Grief is a heavy weight to bear, but there is so much to celebrate in today’s readings, so much that reminds us of Fr. Bob, it is hard to remain entrenched in sorrow.

The very first line of the first reading from Isaiah proclaims, “On this mountain the LORD of hosts will provide for all peoples a feast of rich food and choice wines, juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines.” This passage is about abundance and lavish hospitality. What’s more, this generosity is intended for all peoples, there are no divisions. The first reading always foreshadows the Gospel passage which speaks to miracles of healing and the extravagant feeding of the multitudes from seven loaves of bread and a few fish. This deeply faithful disposition of abundance, magnanimity, other-centeredness, mercy and hospitality, which we are called to emulate, was a hallmark of Fr. Bob’s priesthood and the legacy he left to our community.

Between the passage from Isaiah and the Gospel from Matthew is Psalm 23, rendered artistically in Jane Davis Doggett’s installation in Boisi Hall of the Golden Center. Each line is depicted in 12 boxes wrapped in colorful geometric images and all twelve are beautiful, but the one depicting “my cup runneth over” is my favorite because it most closely reminds me of Fr. Bob. He would often ask members of his pastoral team, students, former parishioners and friends, “Who fills your cup? What replenishes you?” Now, at the start of the Season of Advent, is a good time to ask ourselves that question and act on the answer, especially if we find we have little time to be still and at peace, or if we remain depleted by illness, loss or the demands of life.

What is most beautiful about the Scriptural passages for today is how clearly they point to central tenets of our faith and provide reasons to “rejoice and be glad.” Be generous. Be welcoming. Be hospitable. Exclude no one. Look for miracles. Be nourished. Replenish. Live abundantly. Be merciful. And trust in the promise that God “will destroy death forever. . . [and] will wipe away the tears from all faces.”