The prophet Isaiah is a messenger who accompanies us on our Advent journey. His readings help us prepare the way of the Lord, so we hear from Isaiah often in our Mass readings during the Advent season.
In our reading today at daily Mass from the prophet Isaiah, the prophet addresses the sufferings we endure on our journey. Even though we are given adversity and affliction, the Lord will be there for us, as he will not be hidden. Even though the people of Israel often had a hard time understanding the message of the prophets, or thought their message to be unacceptable, Isaiah tells them that God will send a prophet who will help them understand his message more clearly. We know this prophet will be Jesus and the Good News he proclaims to the world. The time of Jesus’ coming will be a time of great fertility and fulness, a time of healing, wholeness, freedom, and peace. We know that the kingdom that Jesus proclaimed has not come to its fulfillment, but right now we see aspects of that kingdom that are present. We are to help bring about that kingdom. It is not just the work of Jesus, but our work as his followers as well. There are a lot of paradoxes in our journey here on earth. Although there is healing, there are still hardships, struggles, sufferings, and tragedies. Jesus suffered terribly in his passion and in his death on the cross, but he also died in peace in his self-surrender and self-emptying on the cross. Jesus invites us to carry our crosses, to unite those crosses with his cross. That is all a part of our journey. Blessings to all of you today - Father Lincoln.
Isaiah 30:19-21, 23-26
Thus says the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel: People of Zion, dwelling in Jerusalem, you shall no longer weep; He will be most gracious to you when you cry out; as soon as he hears, he will answer you. The Lord will give you bread in adversity and water in affliction. No longer will your Teacher hide himself, but with your own eyes you shall see your Teacher. And your ears shall hear a word behind you: “This is the way; walk in it,” when you would turn to the right or the left. He will give rain for the seed you sow in the ground. And the bread that the soil produces will be rich and abundant. On that day, your cattle will graze in broad meadows. The oxen and the donkeys that till the ground will eat silage tossed to them with shovel and pitchfork. Upon every high mountain and lofty hill, there will be streams of running water. On the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall, the light of the moon will be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times greater, like the light of seven days. On the day the LORD binds up the wounds of his people and heals the bruises left by his blows.
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