In Choosing to be born for us, God chose to be known by us

Treasures of Our Faith with Deacon Richard Vehige

Today, Monday in the week after Epiphany to the Baptism of the Lord, we are invited to first read and reflect on a passage from the book of the prophet Isaiah (61: 1-11) entitled “The Spirit of the Lord is upon his servant”. Our treasure, which follows, is from a sermon by Saint Peter Chrysologus, bishop.

Saint Peter Chrysologus was a fourth century Bishop of Ravenna, Italy. He was a Doctor of the Church, which means “of golden words “. He is known as the “Doctor of Homilies” for the concise but theologically rich reflections he delivered during his time.

Isaiah, one of the greatest of the prophets, appeared at a critical moment in Israel’s history. The Northern Kingdom collapsed, under the hammerlike blows of Assyria, in 722/721 B.C., and in 701 Jerusalem itself saw the army of Sennacherib drawn up before its walls. In the year that Uzziah, king of Judah, died, Isaiah received his call to the prophetic office in the Temple of Jerusalem. Close attention should be given to chapter six, where this divine summons to be the ambassador of the Most High is circumstantially described.

The vision of the Lord enthroned in glory stamps an indelible character on Isaiah’s ministry and provides a key to the understanding of his message. The majesty, holiness and glory of the Lord took possession of his spirit and, at the same time, he gained a new awareness of human pettiness and sinfulness. The enormous abyss between God’s sovereign holiness and human sinfulness overwhelmed the prophet. Only the purifying coal of the seraphim could cleanse his lips and prepare him for acceptance of the call: “Here I am, send me!”

The ministry of Isaiah extended from the death of Uzziah in 742 B.C. to Sennacherib’s siege of Jerusalem in 701 B.C., and it may have continued even longer, until after the death of Hezekiah in 687 B.C. Later legend (the Martyrdom and Ascension of Isaiah) claims that Hezekiah’s son, Manasseh, executed Isaiah by having him sawed in two. During this long ministry, the prophet returned again and again to the same themes, and there are indications that he may have sometimes re-edited his older prophecies to fit new occasions.