Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

This is the Gospel of the poor,
liberation for the imprisoned,
sight for the blind,
freedom for the oppressed.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Isaiah 48,17-19

Thus says Yahweh, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am Yahweh your God and teach you for your own good, I lead you in the way you ought to go. If only you had listened to my commandments! Your prosperity would have been like a river and your saving justice like the waves of the sea. Your descendants would have been numbered like the sand, your offspring as many as its grains. Their name would never be cancelled or blotted out from my presence.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The prophet reminds the people, who are easily prey to the temptation of distancing themselves from the Lord and seeking other ways, that it is God who guides them on the way of salvation. "I am the Lord your God, who teaches you for your own good, who leads you in the way you should go." Only God is the Lord of our life. Deafness to the Word of God leads to a saddened and unjust life. When we trust only ourselves and our own beliefs, we see the bitter drifts of life. In this biblical passage the Lord himself reminds us that if we had kept his commands "your prosperity would have been like a river, and your success like the waves of the sea." Unfortunately, the first to experience the injustices caused by a selfish mentality are the weakest, the poor, who pay the price for being discarded and abandoned on the margins of life. The prophet asks us to look up from ourselves and become aware of the Lord and of his great love for us. God is close to His people; He accompanies them and asks to be recognized and loved. We need to return to listen to the Word of God and recognize His presence in our days, in the life of our communities, in the events of society, and to let the Lord guide our steps on the way of love and peace. "I am the Lord your God, who teaches you for your own good, who leads you in the way on which you should go" (v. 17). Faithfulness in listening to his Word, which is addressed to us with particular abundance during this Advent season, is a blessing for our lives.