Seek the Lord while he may be found,
call upon him while he is near;
let the wicked forsake their way
and the unrighteous their thoughts…
Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
ISAIAH 55:6-9
Seek the Lord while he may be found,
call upon him while he is near;
let the wicked forsake their way
and the unrighteous their thoughts;
let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them,
to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,
declares the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
“The Lord, rich in pardon,” “my ways and your ways”… The text perfectly accompanies the message of the Gospel. It is the end of the “Second Isaiah,” written around 553-539 BC in Babylon, the result of the preaching of a prophet from the school of Isaiah, who preached to Israel in exile.
The mission of these sermons is to announce to the people that the Lord will return them to the land, but not through political forces but through the path of conversion. “Return to the Lord, and you will return to the land. You do not know how, but the Lord has his ways and will take care of you if you are faithful to him.”
The verses that follow are the ones we read on the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time:
For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower
and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
…….
With these verses, the previous ones make more sense. The plans of the Lord are heavenly but effective. Israel does not know how the soil is fertilized by the rain, the seeds seem dead in the dry land, but from them life will sprout in due time, a time that does not depend on the will of man.
It is not the will of man that drives history, even if it seems so. God is not absent from History, but follows paths that we do not understand, thoughts that are higher than ours.
PHILIPPIANS 1:20-27
Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
If it is to be life in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.
Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ…
Until last Sunday we have been reading excerpts from the letter to the Romans. From now on (until the 29th Sunday) we will read the letter to the Philippians, the Christians of the city of Philippi.
According to Acts 16, Philippi, in Macedonia, was the first European city visited by Paul, perhaps the first European city to receive the Good News (around 49 AD).
There a warm and generous community was formed, which was always very dear to Paul. The letter, written around 59 AD and probably from Ephesus, is written to accompany a messenger of Paul, Epaphroditus, and to announce to them that he is going to send them Timothy.
It takes the opportunity to make a series of personal considerations, since Paul is apparently in prison and expands with the Philippians (“for me to live is Christ and to die is gain”).
Without great unity, the letter has very beautiful passages, and very well known for their use in our Eucharist.
Today we read a magnificent text, which shows us something of the mystical soul of Paul, in love with Jesus and anxious to see him, to be with Him.
This same idea “I desire to be released and be with Christ” is present in Teresa of Jesus, John of the Cross, Ignatius of Loyola… in short, in all those who, in love with Jesus, yearn for the day when they can finally meet Him face to face.
It is a magnificent message, very especially for us, who generally view death with such suspicion and, of course, more as something to be feared than as a definitive and joyful encounter with God.
José Enrique Galarreta, S.J.