Memory of the Poor

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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 4,2-6

That day, Yahweh's seedling will turn to beauty and glory, what the earth brings forth will turn to the pride and ornament of Israel's survivors. Those who are left in Zion and remain in Jerusalem will be called holy, all those in Jerusalem noted down to live. When the Lord has washed away the filth of Zion's daughters and with the wind of judgement and the wind of burning cleansed Jerusalem of the blood shed in her, Yahweh will create, over every house on Mount Zion and over those who assemble there, a cloud by day, and by night smoke with the brightness of a flaring fire. For over all will be the Glory as canopy and tent to give shade by day from the heat, refuge and shelter from the storm and the rain.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

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

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

We are before words of hope for a people and a city marked by war and destruction. The prophet sees in that "branch" the hope of a new people that will inhabit Jerusalem. This awareness leads the prophet to call that small remnant, just a group of survivors, "holy": it is a small branch and yet is blessed by God. Holy, in fact, is the one who accepts God's love, who lives in communion with Him, who obeys His commands, who walks in His light. When times are difficult, when the violence of evil and war destroy people and things, God is not far away, even though he may seem not very visible. The Lord has made a commitment of faithfulness to that "little remnant." Not only does he not abandon them, but he accompanies and protects them. The prophet assures that the branch "will grow in honour and glory," will become a great tree that produces fruit of goodness for all. Isaiah's prophecy is proposed to us again at the beginning of this Advent season and becomes for us an invocation to the Lord that he may stand by us and deliver us from evil. He will wash away "the filth of the daughters of Zion;" he will cleanse "the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgement and by a spirit of burning" and he will be a protection for all. God's mercy causes peace to "sprout" in all lands, even the dry and devastated ones. The "glory of God," that is, his mercy, accompanies us night and day. Just as it happened during the long journey of the exodus when "a cloud of smoke during the day and a blaze of flaming fire at night" accompanied the people and God's protection "like a canopy" sheltered them from the heat of the day and from the cold or rain at night. The Lord is the one who is at his people's side in history, as he revealed himself to Moses in the burning bush: "I am who I am" (Ex 3:14), the one who is close to you, forever.