Have you been doing the readings lately? If you have, have you noticed that we’re being steeped in Isaiah? Or do those two sentences have you completely confounded? If so, here’s some context.
The Catholic Church has a schedule of scripture readings for the entire year, with an Old Testament passage, a Psalm, and a Gospel passage for each day. (Sundays get an extra New Testament reading.) This schedule is universal, meaning if you were to go to Mass on a given day, people going to Mass in any other place on earth on that same day would be hearing the same readings as you. Reading the daily readings is something many Catholics do, even when they can’t go to Mass. (Here and here are a couple of good places to get the daily readings.)
So that’s what is meant by “the readings”. And if you’ve been reading them in the last week or so, you may have noticed that the first reading has consistently been from Isaiah. That’s not surprising, given that it’s Advent and that Isaiah prophesied extensively about the coming of the promised Messiah. The One who would deliver God’s children from all their suffering and oppression, and bring God’s Kingdom to Earth.
This is a pretty standard Advent message. But this year it is hitting me in a completely different way. This year I’m actually feeling the need for deliverance.
In the United States, and probably other prosperous nations, it’s easy to forget we need deliverance. Our lives are easy, comfortable, and pretty downright fun. We enjoy peace and safety and a stable government. We don’t go hungry, our grocery stores and pantries are well stocked. We have good jobs and time to pursue leisure activities and consume all forms of entertainment. Most of us are blessed with flourishing social circles and meaningful community with family and friends. Life looks pretty darn good, on the surface anyway.
But in this year of Our Lord 2020 the picture perfect surface has been disrupted. The cracks are starting to show, revealing the problem that’s always been there but that until now we’ve been able to cover up and distract ourselves from.
We are broken people, living in a broken world, and we desperately need a Savior.
It’s hard to see when our calendars are full of kids’ activities, social engagements, business trips and vacations, when restaurants are booming, and stadiums and theaters are teeming. It’s hard to long for Heaven when Earth feels like paradise. It’s not until things fall apart – job loss, illness, death, isolation – that we see the problem. Humans are fragile, life is fragile, and the things we once took comfort in can’t be relied on. We need a Savior.
And what Isaiah has been telling us is that a Savior is coming!
He comes to protect.
“The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them….They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” (Isaiah 11: 6-9)
He comes to satisfy.
“On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.” (Isaiah 25:6-8)
He comes to heal.
“In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see. The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord, and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.” (Isaiah 29:18-19)
He comes to comfort.
“Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep.” (Isaiah 40: 1-2, 11)
This year has been hard. I understand if you just can’t wait to bid it good riddance. But can I propose that there is a hidden gift in this massive disaster? The gift of realizing we can’t save ourselves, and realizing that there is Someone who can. The gift of knowing there is more to life than what this world has to offer. The gift of longing for the world to come.
Someday the pandemic will be over and life will more or less go back to normal. That will be a great day and I am eagerly looking forward to it. But when it comes, I hope that I don’t forget the longing that I feel now. I hope that I am never so content with this world, that the next feels uncertain, or unwanted. I hope I never forget my need for a Savior. One who came in humble human form, Who will come again in kingly glory, and Who comes everyday in a thousand little ways to heal and make whole.