2nd Week of Advent, Monday – 11th December 2023 – Isaiah 35,1-10; Lk 5,17-26
To Make Things Right
The first reading expresses the excitement and anticipation of God’s coming in our midst. This message of hope and joyful anticipation was a welcome relief to the Jewish exiles. These words of encouragement bring out the blessings which are in store for Jerusalem. We hear that the desert and barren lands will bloom and blossom, those sick and afflicted will be healed because God is coming to make things right. Here it is the Lord who is making a highway for God’s people. He is preparing a path so that the chosen people can travel back to their homeland. God’s coming is near, and He will bring healing, wholeness, holiness and salvation. God’s action in the midst of a broken and hurting people is physical as well as spiritual. We find such a prophecy constantly confirmed by the works of Jesus and foretold by him at the beginning of his public life (Lk 4,18). Coming of Christmas, i.e., the re-enactment of birth of the child is the beginning of all that is foretold by Isaiah.
