Wednesday of the
Second Week of Advent
(Isaiah 4025-31; Matthew 11:28-30)
Spiritual theologian Fr. Ronald Rolheiser recently offered
a short reflection on the “hiddenness of God.”
He wrote that the more a person enters into a relationship with God, the
greater God’s mystery seems to him or her.
In other words, an intimate relationship with God envelops the believer in
a “cloud of unknowing.’” This is “a knowing so deep that it can no longer be
conceptualized.” In today’s first
reading, the prophet comments on God’s hiddenness to a similarly positive effect.
The reading comes from the second part of the Book of the
Prophet Isaiah. God is in the process of
delivering His (the Jewish) people from exile.
The people, however, are saying that God does not recognize their
plight. They believe that God has
forgotten them. God responds to their
fear by stating that He has strengthened them.
Renewed in heart, the people will see their way back to their homes in
Israel.
Sometimes we are tempted to give up pursuing a
relationship with God. Some might resign
themselves to whatever benefits they might squeeze from the earth. With such a strategy, however, they will miss
the glory God has in store for them. It is
far better to enter a closer relationship with the Lord by submitting ourselves
to Him in prayer and in action. This is
the “yoke” that Jesus exhorts us to shoulder in today’s gospel. We will find it not only bearable but a joy
because Jesus shares it with us.
