Sunday Vigil
Memory of Saint Ambrose (+397), bishop of Milan. Pastor of his people, defender of the poor and weak against every form of exploitation, he was a strong defender of the Church in the face of the emperor's arrogance.
Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Whoever lives and believes in me
will never die.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Isaiah 30,19-21.23-26
Yes, people of Zion living in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. He will be gracious to you when your cry for help rings out; as soon as he hears it, he will answer you. When the Lord has given you the bread of suffering and the water of distress, he who is your teacher will hide no longer, and you will see your teacher with your own eyes. Your ears will hear these words behind you, 'This is the way, keep to it,' whether you turn to right or left. He will send rain for the seed you sow in the ground, and the bread that the ground provides will be rich and nourishing. That day, your cattle will graze in wide pastures. Oxen and donkeys that work the land will eat for fodder wild sorrel, spread by the shovel-load and fork-load. On every lofty mountain, on every high hill there will be streams and water-courses, on the day of the great slaughter when the strongholds fall. Then moonlight will be bright as sunlight and sunlight itself be seven times brighter -- like the light of seven days in one -- on the day Yahweh dresses his people's wound and heals the scars of the blows they have received.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
If you believe, you will see the glory of God,
thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
In history there are often difficult times, especially those in which people ally themselves to foment conflicts and wars. However, the prophet, who shares the tribulations and afflictions of human history, knows how to see and point to the consoling presence of the Lord: "You shall weep no more." The prophet assures the people that the Lord hears the prayer of those who entrust themselves to Him: "He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when he hears it, he will answer you." Prayer is the strength of the believing people. Karl Barth, the great Protestant theologian, rightly writes that the Lord does not act in the same way whether we pray or not: he not only hears, but he also makes himself vulnerable to our prayer. Prayer is always a dialogue with God. He listens to His people when they call upon Him, He does not make them lack his Word. Indeed, He does not cease to guide his people, showing them the way forward. And if there are moments of disorientation, he intervenes to show the way forward. Prayer at that moment becomes listening, as the prophet writes: "And when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left, your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, 'This is the way, walk in it.'" The Word of God heard with faithfulness and obedience descends into the depths of the heart and inhabits it. It becomes an inner voice that springs from within the heart because it has matured in a history of listening, reflection, meditation, and reading of the signs of the times. It enables us to see the future with wisdom and hope, freeing us from the temptation to get entangled in worldly logic.