Wednesday, July 13, 2022

 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.