Easter Vigil

Heed me, and you shall eat well, you shall delight in rich fare. (Isaiah 55:2)

There are so many powerful symbols during the Easter Vigil! We gather in darkness as a brand-new fire is ignited. That light spreads from the Paschal candle to our own tapers, swallowing up darkness and isolation in its radiant glow.

We hear how our father Abraham sacrificed a lamb caught in a thorn-bush in place of his only son, and we stand in awe before the Father who offers up his thorn...

“I thought I had toiled in vain …” (Isaiah 49:4)

At the Last Supper, Jesus would certainly have had every reason to be disappointed. For the past three years, he had devoted his life to persuasive preaching; to giving an example of self-sacrifice and uncon­ditional love; and to bringing about dramatic victories over sickness, demonic powers, and even death. Yet no matter how hard he worked, God’s reign on earth still seemed like a distant dream.

Political leaders still dis...

The annunciation of the Lord

I will not tempt the Lord! (Isaiah 7:12)

In today’s first reading, King Ahaz is being offered something that he may not want—a victory that comes not from fighting but from passive waiting. Commissioned by God, the prophet Isaiah has given him an unexpected set of directions about a dangerous military threat: Sit tight, and wait for God to act. Don’t be afraid. In fact, don’t do anything! (Isaiah 7:4,7-9). But with enemies massing on his norther...

“Why do we fast, and you do not see it?” (Isaiah 58:3)

Well-known film director Woody Allen once quipped that 90 percent of success is just showing up. Well, if that’s the case, then the other 10 percent must be absolutely crucial! There are many people who “just show up”—maybe at work, with their families, or in their neighbor­hoods—but don’t go much further, and the results are evident.

Think about the Israelites in today’s first reading. “Why do w...

YOU'RE SUCH A BABY

"The Lord has bared His holy arm in the sight of all the nations." –Isaiah 52:10

As the father of six, I have been privileged to wake up on six Christmas mornings and hold my infant child. I would stare at my baby in wonder, knowing that the Lord Jesus came to earth looking just like the infant in my arms. Despite all this experience with infants and Christmas, I have never been able to fathom the truth that God came to earth as a Baby.

Before the first Christmas, no ...

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SIGN LANGUAGE

"Ask for a sign from the Lord, your God." –Isaiah 7:11

When we want a sign from the Lord, He often says: "This is an evil age. It seeks a sign. But no sign will be given it" (Lk 11:29). However, when we don't want a sign because we already have our minds made up, the Lord often commands: "Ask for a sign from the Lord, your God; let it be deep as the nether world, or high as the sky!" (Is 7:11)

We may already have our Christmas made up. We've planned it to go a certain way....

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SUNDAY AND CHRISTMAS DAY

"My salvation is about to come, My justice, about to be revealed." –Isaiah 56:1

This Christmas, the Lord's salvation is about to come, and His justice about to be revealed. To receive His salvation and justice, we must "observe what is right, do what is just" (Is 56:1). We must especially keep the sabbath free from profanation (Is 56:2, 6). We must obey the Third Commandment and keep holy the Lord's Day, Sunday, the sabbath of the new covenant (see Ex 20:8). In do...

DESIGNER-GOD

"...God, the Designer and Maker of the earth Who established it, not creating it to be a waste, but designing it to be lived in." –Isaiah 45:18

Even as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ, we are living in a culture of death, which discourages birth. It sees people not as gifts from God but as the cause of "over-population." It views children not as joys but as burdens and attacks on our freedom. Our culture of death makes contraception and abortion its virtues, and c...

DRESS FOR SUCCESS

"I rejoice heartily in the Lord, in my God is the joy of my soul." –Isaiah 61:10

The third Sunday of Advent is called Gaudete Sunday, or Rejoice Sunday. Turn off the football games; put off that trip to the mall; set aside the Christmas decorations. It's time to "rejoice in the Lord"! (Phil 4:4)

On Christmas, many people receive various articles of clothing as presents: ties, socks, sweaters, and warm winter clothes. Today, God has better clothes to give us: garments o...

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Y'ALL COME

"To whom can you liken Me as an equal? says the Holy One." –Isaiah 40:25

No one equals God in anything. Consider God's strength; He is unequaled in strength. Almighty God is so strong that He made and sustains the millions of stars which span light-years in space (Is 40:26).

Almighty God is willing to share His unlimited strength with us. "He gives strength to the fainting; for the weak He makes vigor abound" (Is 40:29). When God strengthens old or weak people, they can outru...

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FREE-GIFTS

"Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her slavery is at an end." –Isaiah 40:2, our transl.

St. Nicholas is famous not just for giving gifts, but for gift-giving that set people free. His gifts freed three young women from beginning lives of prostitution. What about the gifts you will give this Christmas? Will these gifts set people free, merely distract them from their slavery, or even be one more enslaving factor in their lives? Jesus came and will come this C...

CLIMBING ADVENT MOUNTAIN

"Come, let us climb the Lord's mountain." –Isaiah 2:3

Advent is a time for mountain-climbing. It is climbing with all nations (Is 2:2) the highest mountain so that the Lord "may instruct us in His ways, and we may walk in His paths" (Is 2:3). Advent is being like Moses. We climb Mt. Sinai, receive the Ten Commandments, descend radiant with God's glory, and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus (see Ex 19:2ff). As more and more people climb God's holy mountain this Advent t...

HEART-RENDING

"Oh, that You would rend the heavens and come down!" –Isaiah 63:19

When we see gross injustices in our society, we cry out for God to intervene. When we see people literally getting away with murder, even of infants in the womb, we beg God to put a stop to our world's perversity and wickedness. We pray in desperation: "Oh, that You would rend the heavens and come down, with the mountains quaking before You" (Is 63:19). We pray for the Lord to come accompanied by an earthquak...

Mass Readings: August 14

IS YOUR CATHOLIC CHURCH CATHOLIC?

"My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples." –Isaiah 56:7

Is your church filled with members who are young and old, black and white, male and female, poor and rich, U.S. citizens and internationals? Many Catholic churches in the USA are filled with old, white, upper-middle class, Amer...

The first part of Isaiah (chapters 1-39) is a call to repentance. Only through repentance can we stand in the presence of the all-holy God. This call was not heard, and as a result, the Israelites were destroyed as a nation and sent into exile in Babylon. The second part of the book (40-66) is a prophecy of restoration. Yet how can a dead nation come to life? How can a scattered and defeated nation be restored? How can sin be atoned for? How can God be just without destroying us? Th...