Advent, Week One
Isaiah 30:19-21.23-26
I’ve often been asked how I knew I wanted to be a nun. I think people know when they ask me that me that I didn’t have a Damascus road experience. I usually answer by talking about my growing conviction that I wanted to follow Christ and put my whole trust in his promises. Their next question is usually, ‘And are you happy?’. This is actually more complicated to answer because the life of faith is a long journey with many twists and turns in the road. I have a sense that I am on the path that God wants me to be on. In this sense I am happy.
Isaiah’s words to the people of Judah are to assure them that they are on the right path. He promises an end to their weeping and God’s attentiveness to their cries: ‘He will be gracious to you when he hears your cry; when he hears he will answer.’ They must put their full trust in God and not be swayed by political alliances with other nations. In fact, they must acknowledge their need for God. The invitation is to walk in God’s ways: “Whether you turn to right or left, your ears will hear these words behind you, ‘This is the way, follow it.’” There is something very re-assuring about these words. Once they are firmly on the path a wonderful vision is promised. There will be an abundance of water, their every need will be provided for and their healing promised.
Look up the passage in Isaiah and notice the poetry of abundance. How do you see this promise in your own life?