Wednesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
(Isaiah
10:5-7.13b-16; Matthew 11:25-27)
As the war
in Ukraine drags on, it may be related to the war of today’s first
reading. However, care must be taken not
to equate Ukraine with Israel or Russia with Assyria.
The reading
expresses the biblical conviction that God is in charge of world events. Mighty Assyria is but an instrument for
imposing a corrective on Israel. The faithlessness
of Israel after God saved its ancestors from slavery in Egypt, formed it in the
desert as an exemplar civilization, and gave it rich land for development is
overbearing. Isaiah means that what is
left of Israel (that is, Judah) must return to God’s ways if it is to survive.
We hope
that somehow an intact Ukraine can survive the devastating war. If it does, no doubt it will have learned
lessons about how to reform. We pray
that it will all end in a more Godlike world, less inclined to war and more
given to righteousness.
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