Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
September 5, 2021
“Say to those whose hearts are frightened, ‘Be strong, fear not! Here is your God, he comes with vindication, with divine recompense, he comes to save you. Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared, then will the lame leap like a stag, then the tongue of the mute will sing. Streams will burst forth in the desert and rivers in the steppe, the burning sands will become pools, and the thirsty ground springs of water.’”
Did you ever try to paint a picture? You gather the right materials, brushes, colors and decide how to transform your idea and put it on a canvas. Isaiah, in his vision, provided an exquisite painting in words of what he dreamed would be a world with a messiah.
As we listen to the words about the blind, the deaf, the mute and the lame, we find Jesus taking another Isaiah passage and telling his townsfolk, ‘Today this has been fulfilled in your hearing.’ The prophet uses these miraculous images which we use as the reason for the messiah, He comes to save us.
In our time of difficulty and trial the picture and the words assure us, that the whole reason for Jesus’ coming, was and is to save us. Faith in Jesus, and our earnest desire for salvation, will add to the beauty of our painting.