3RD WEEK OF ADVENT

In an outburst of wrath, for a moment I hid my face from you.

At first glance, this verse can be troubling. The prophet depicts God as responding to the Israelites’ sins with an “outburst of wrath” that destroys Israel and banishes his people from the Promised Land. Then God is overtaken by feelings of “pity” and decides to bring them back home (Isaiah 54:8).

Does God really waver between wrath and tenderness? Is he subject to emotional outbursts? And more important, does he really punish people so violently?

No, God does not create suffering or chaos, war or destruction. These are all the result of a world thrown out of joint by sinful human beings. They come from a world that has distanced itself from the Lord and his command to live in love. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, “Punishments,” or the consequences of sin, “must not be conceived of as a kind of vengeance inflicted by God from without, but as following from the very nature of sin” (1472). The “wrath” that Isaiah talks about here is his way of describing these consequences.

God never changes. From before you were created, he knew you and loved you. From your first moment, he delighted in you and determined to open heaven to you. Even now, despite whatever sins or mistakes you have made and despite whatever else has happened in your life, he wants nothing more than to embrace you and pour his grace into you. Like the father of the prodigal son, he is eagerly waiting to welcome you and anyone else who turns from sin.

So run to him! Cast aside whatever lies are telling you that God is angry with you or is punishing you or has turned his back on you. And if there’s any sin on your part that is holding you back, bring it to him in repentance and Confession. He already knows what it is, and his forgiveness is always there for you.

Let nothing stand between you and the Lord. Let these words—the final words from today’s reading—always be in your heart and on your lips: “My love shall never leave you nor my covenant of peace be shaken, says the Lord” (Isaiah 54:10).

“Lord, in the face of such constant love, what else can I do but fall on my knees and worship you?”

Isaiah 54:1-10
Psalm 30:2-6, 11-13
Luke 7:24-30