he does not know your face.
Lord, you are my Lord and my God,
and I have never seen you.
You have created and re-created me,
all the good I have comes from you,
and still I do not know you.
I was created to see you,
and I have not yet accomplished that for which I was made.
How wretched is the fate of man
when he has lost that for which he was created.
How hard and cruel was our Fall.
What has man lost, and what has he found?
What has he left, and what is left to him?
O Lord, how long shall this be?
How long, Lord, will you forget us?
How long will you turn your face away from us?
When will you look upon us and hear us?
When will you enlighten our eyes and show us your face?
When will you give yourself back to us?
Look upon us, Lord,
hear and enlighten us.
Show us your very self.
Take pity on our efforts and strivings toward you,
for we have no strength without you.
Teach me to seek you,
and when I seek you show yourself to me,
for I cannot seek you unless you teach me,
nor can I find you unless you show yourself to me.
Let me seek you in desiring you
and desire you in seeking you,
let me find you by loving you,
and love you in finding you.
Saturday after Advent 2
A Reading from a commentary on the prophecy of Isaiah
by Eusebius of Caesarea
‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God.’ The prophecy makes clear that it is to be fulfilled, not in Jerusalem but in the wilderness: it is there that the glory of the Lord is to appear, and God’s salvation is to be made known to all the world.
This prophecy was fulfilled historically and literally when in the wilderness by the river Jordan John the Baptist proclaimed God’s saving presence, and there God’s salvation was indeed seen. The words of the prophecy were fulfilled when Christ and his glory were made manifest: after his baptism the heavens opened, and the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove rested on him, and the Father’s voice was heard, bearing witness to the Son: ‘This is my beloved Son, listen to him.’
The prophecy meant that God was to come to a deserted place, inaccessible from the beginning. None of the pagans had any knowledge of God, since his holy servants and prophets were kept from approaching them. The voice commands that a way be prepared for the Word of God: the rough and trackless ground is to be made level, so that our God may find a highway when he comes. ‘Prepare the way of the Lord’: the way is the preaching of the gospel, the new message of consolation, ready to bring to all humanity the knowledge of God’s saving power.
‘Climb on a high mountain, O bearer of good news to Zion. Lift up your voice in strength, O bearer of good news to Jerusalem.’ These words of Isaiah harmonise very well with the meaning of what has gone before. They refer opportunely to the evangelists and proclaim the coming of God among us, after speaking of the voice crying in the wilderness. Mention of the evangelists suitably follows the prophecy on John the Baptist.
What does Zion mean if not the city previously called Jerusalem? This is the mountain referred to in that passage from Scripture: ‘Here is Mount Zion where you dwelt.’ Elsewhere the Apostle says: ‘You have come to Mount Zion.’ Does not he refer to the company of the apostles, chosen from the former people of the circumcision?
This indeed is the Zion, the Jerusalem, that received God’s salvation. It stands aloft on the mountain of God, that is, it is raised high on the only-begotten Word of God. It is commanded to climb the high mountain and announce the word of salvation. Who is the bearer of the good news but the company of the evangelists? And what does it mean to bear the good news but to preach to all nations, but first of all to the cities of Judah, the coming of Christ on earth?
The Third Sunday of Advent
A Reading from a sermon of Augustine
John is the voice, but the Lord ‘is the Word who was in the beginning’. John is the voice that lasts for a time; from the beginning Christ is the Word who lives for ever.
Take away the word, the meaning, and what is the voice? Where there is no understanding, there is only a meaningless sound. The voice without the word strikes the ear but does not build up the heart. However, let us observe what happens when we first seek to build up our hearts. When I think about what I am going to say, the word or message is already in my heart. When I want to speak to you, I look for a way to share with your heart what is already in mine. In my search for a way to let this message reach you, so that the word already in my heart may find a place also in yours, I use my voice to speak to you. The sound of my voice brings the meaning of the word to you and then passes away. The word which the sound has brought to you is now in your heart, and yet it is still also in mine.
When the word has been conveyed to you, does not the sound seem to say: ‘The word ought to grow, and I should diminish?’ The sound of the voice has made itself heard in the service of the word, and has gone away, as though it were saying: ‘My joy is complete.’ Let us hold on to the word; we must not lose the word conceived inwardly in our hearts.
Do you need proof that the voice passes away but the divine Word remains? Where is John’s baptism today? It served its purpose, and it went away. Now it is Christ’s baptism that we celebrate. It is in Christ that we all believe; we hope for salvation in him. This is the message the voice cried out.
Because it is hard to distinguish word from voice, even John himself was thought to be the Christ. The voice was thought to be the word. But the voice acknowledged what it was, anxious not to give offence to the word. ‘I am not the Christ,’ he said, ‘nor Elijah nor the prophet.’ And the question came: ‘Who are you, then?’ He replied: ‘I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way for the Lord.’
‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness’ is the voice of one breaking the silence. ‘Prepare the way for the Lord,’ the voice says, as though it were saying: ‘I speak out in order to lead him into your hearts, but he does not choose to come where I lead him unless you prepare the way for him.’
‘To prepare the way’ means
