Wednesday of the
Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
(Isaiah 10:5-7.13b-16; Matthew 11:25-27)
Theodore Parker, a nineteenth century Unitarian minister,
penned a hopeful phrase that Martin Luther King used in the struggle for civil
rights. “The arc of the moral universe is long,” Reverend Parker wrote, “but it
bends toward justice.” These words
reflect the Judeo-Christian tradition that God is the Lord of history making
all things good. The prophet Isaiah
clings to this premise in today’s first reading.
Assyria is the mighty nation from the northeast that has
destroyed the Northern Kingdom of Israel and now threatens the Southern. It sees itself as the greatest power on earth
and subject to no one. It certainly
pays no heed to the God of Israel. But
Isaiah sees Assyria differently. For him
the mighty nation is only a pawn in the hand of the Almighty. He predicts that Assyria will shrivel like a
log in a campfire. His prophecy is
realized in not too many years when Assyria is vanquished by Babylonia.
Today’s gospel indicates that the Lord of history has put
His Son at its center. Jesus is the hope
for justice and peace to which all peoples aspire. He is also the source of bliss with his
message of love and the power of his resurrection. In deepening our relation with him through the
Eucharist, we should expect to witness the victory of goodness.
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