Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent
(Isaiah 49:8-15)
Lent is first associated with the Hebrews’ exodus from Egypt. Our forty days of sacrifice to overcome selfish tendencies correspond to the forty years of purification that the Hebrews underwent in the desert. There are other Bible stories, however, which also give meaning to the Lenten experience. The first reading today presents one of these.
In the sixth century before Christ the Babylonians conquered the Kingdom of Judah and carried many of its people into exile. It was a terrible experience of subjugation and humiliation. The prophets write of it as a punishment for the excesses of the people during the almost 500-year period of Israel’s kings. In that time many Israelis had taken up the idolatrous practices of Israel’s neighbors. Often the rich had squandered fortunes in sumptuous living while ignoring the plight of the poor. But after decades of mortification in Babylon Isaiah now pronounces that enough is enough. The people have learned their lesson. God is at hand to bring them back to their own land.
We should hear the voice of Isaiah as a call that Lent is now nearly over. God has noticed our sacrifices and is coming to rescue us from our sins. We have to hold the line for two and a half more weeks. But just as sure as daylight is now overtaking the night (in the northern hemisphere, that is) so can we count on God liberating us through Christ’s Easter victory. He shall crown our efforts of charity, prayer, and fasting to make us God-like in mercy, holiness, and generosity.
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