The prophets were sent to Ancient
Israel to not only relay a message God was sending them, but also to bring them
back, to reconcile them to the Lord. Israel may think that God had
forsaken them for their transgressions and sins, but Isaiah reaffirms the
message of the covenant that God made with his people, of his steadfastness in
maintaining that relationship. The psalmist echoes this same
message, telling us that the Lord is gracious and merciful.
It is interesting, the saints that
we celebrate in the Church, how they reveal different aspects of the faith. There was a movement in the early
Church called the Desert Fathers and Mothers that arose in the late 3rd
century, when men and women left their earthly possessions and the comforts of
society to live in isolation as hermits in the desert. Mary of Egypt is one of the saint on
the liturgical calendar for today. She is said to have been a
well-known singer and actress in Alexandria, Egypt in the middle of the 4th
century. She realized her evil ways while
praying in front of an icon of the Blessed Mother, having moved to the desert
of Egypt to live as a hermitess for 47 years. Her fame spread after her dead body
was found in the desert, as she achieved a large devotional following as a saint in
medieval Europe. There has been a great interest in
the Desert Fathers and Mothers in recent years, because many in our modern
society are looking to their wisdom and their witness as an inspiration to try
to so attached to the material possessions and superficial values of our modern
world. Indeed, we are called to recognize
the ways, both big and small, that we can change our lives in order to truly
live out our faith. May we trust in God’s mercy and in
his faithfulness to us as we continue our journey during Lent.
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