Page 19 - LOTN Issue 45

EDUCATION AND FORMATION
Hope in

the Lord

“Oh, that you would

tear the heavens open
Hope in the Lord
and come down– at your
Presence the mountains
would melt!”

more be known to be with them. It is also the uttering of that
BY EILEEN CLARE GRANT yearning which God has placed in the human heart, a longing
that can never be fully satisfied until we see God “face to face”.
God of hosts, turn again, we implore, look No wonder, they suggest unhappily, that God seems absent
down from heaven and see (Ps 79) when His people are unclean and rebellious and blowing about
like withered leaves in the wind. But then they remind God that
n the Old Testament we hear of the years that were they are His children: He is their loving Father and they are the
eaten by the locust; we hear also that God promises to work of His hands, like the clay fashioned by the potter into
repay His people for those lost years. Perhaps in times something of value. What joy to recall that they – that we – are
Ito come, we will speak of the year that was eaten by the precious in the sight of God! God will remember His promises;
virus. But, “We know that in everything God works for good God will remember that we are His precious children. It is a cry
with those who love him” (Rom 8:28). Difficult, at such of faith that God is ever faithful.
times, to appreciate how; yet many of us have discovered “… he [Christ]will keep you steady and without blame until
how these difficult months have led to a reawakening, a the last day, the day of our Lord Jesus Christ, because God by
reviving, of our faith. We’ve become acutely aware of our calling you has joined you to his Son, Jesus Christ; and God is
mortality. Without the resources of faith, it could have been faithful’ (1 Cor.1:6-9).
easy to give in, turn up our toes and despair. But we haven’t
done that. We could say that we were given a prolonged – a
very prolonged – Lent, with more time to reflect on our lives
and grow closer to the Lord. And now we go from Lent into
Advent, an Advent that will surely resonate more strongly And, Paul reminds us,
than ever before. Jesus has given us the graces
“Oh, that you would tear the heavens open and come down needed to keep us faithful
– at your Presence the mountains would melt!” and steadfast until the final
This first text of Year B is certainly dramatic and might seem day comes when we will “see
almost frightening – do we really want the Lord to tear open the him as he is”.
heavens and come down with such awesome power? This year,
perhaps, we could utter a resounding Yes! Isaiah was writing at
a particularly difficult time in Israel’s history: in a long prayer
of supplication he communicates his people’s unhappiness as
they languish in exile in Babylon. Their homeland has been How encouraging Paul is! Isaiah was expressing the desire of
despoiled; the Temple, the place where God visits man, is lost the people for God to come close again, perhaps to stage some
to them; they are exiles in an alien land with an alien culture. spectacular rescue. Paul was able to rejoice in the knowledge
Many have “gone native” and the fear is that God has turned that Jesus Christ, as the fulfilment of all God’s promises down
His face away from them; the Prophet is expressing their regrets through the ages, will lead us to God. We have a promise of
and acknowledgement of their sinfulness. This great cry sums finding Him whom we have sought for so long; of completion
up the longing of this forlorn people that their God may once in our heavenly destiny; of everlasting joy and blessedness. And,

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