The First Reading from the Mass of the Nativity of the Lord--Vigil Mass:
For Zion’s sake I will not be silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet, until her vindication shines forth like the dawn and her victory like a burning torch.
Nations shall behold your vindication, and all the kings your glory; you shall be called by a new name pronounced by the mouth of the LORD. You shall be a glorious crown in the hand of the LORD, a royal diadem held by your God. No more shall people call you “Forsaken,” or your land “Desolate,” but you shall be called “My Delight,” and your land “Espoused.” For the LORD delights in you and makes your land his spouse. As a young man marries a virgin, your Builder shall marry you; and as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride so shall your God rejoice in you.
Isaiah 62:1-5
As has been my wont for the past few years, I once again turn to one of the readings found in the Masses celebrated on Christmas for inspiration. If you remember from last year, I only had five remaining amongst the twelve. Slim pickings only in number, not quality. (And if you truly want to do any justice to the Prologue of the Gospel of St. John, that can easily be broken up into digestible bits.) Let's just say the order of the next few reflections seems to be established.
The imagery found here begs for an act of lectio divina. Like last year, there are not a lot of short clauses to parse; however, on a quick first perusal, I do see a lot of parallelism. And with this post comes my usual disclaimer: as an untrained laymen in theology or biblical exegesis, I am only expounding on what my poor brain is gleaning. Please feel free to use my meager musings as a point of departure for your own meditation.
For Zion’s sake...for Jerusalem’s sake... For the sake of the People of God, first the Israelites, then the entire world, something had to be done. Since the Fall, humanity has been in a pitiable state. (Makes one wonder if things have changed.) Mired in sin, cut off from Paradise, unable to see His face, the crowing glory of God's creation was one step short not of returning to the nothingness from which it was made, but entering the emptiness which is Hell.
...I will not be silent, ...I will not be quiet,... God is definitely speaking through this prophet. Return to the creation of the world. For six days "And God said...And it was good." (cf. Genesis 1) As the Father spoke the Word on the breath of the Spirit then, now He shall re-create and redeem the world in the same manner. Hence, the Annunciation.
...until her vindication...her victory... Here is a hint of what is to come in the rest of this passage. Like the prophet Hosea, who forgave the unfaithfulness of his wife time and time again, God is demonstrating His faithfulness to the covenant He established with Abram and his descendants. As creation was whole before the disobedience of our First Parents, so it would become again. As there was communion (common-union) between God and us, so shall that integrity return. "But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Corinthians 15:57)
...shines forth like the dawn...a burning torch. "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to ransom those under the law, so that we might receive adoption." (Galatians 4:4-5) "What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." (John 1:3b-4) And what is this light but none other than our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Light of the world (cf. John 8:12), the Resurrection and the Life (cf. John 11:25-26).
Nations/all the kings...behold your vindication/your glory; "All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD; All the families of nations will bow low before him. For kingship belongs to the LORD, the ruler over the nations. All who sleep in the earth will bow low before God; All who have gone down into the dust will kneel in homage." (Psalm 22:28-30) Isaiah must have been very familiar with what King David had written in order to proclaim this. And is this not a foreshadowing of the visit of the Magi (cf. Isaiah 60:1-6; Matthew 2:1-12)? But this beholding is not complete until "...when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself." (cf. John 12:32)
...called by a new name..."See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are....Beloved, we are God’s children now;..." (Cf. 1 John 3:1-2) Through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus we are now adopted children of God, beloved in Christ. We are more than restored; we have been renewed. Our dignity as a creation of God has been elevated even more.
...a glorious crown/a royal diadem...in the hand of the LORD/held by your God. When humanity was made, God finally pronounced all He made "very good" (cf. Genesis 1:31), and thus we became the crowning glory of His creation. When humanity sinned, that crown was tarnished beyond repair or replacement, as far as human hands were concerned. But for God nothing is impossible. Sacred Scripture is not nothing but what God has done and has done for us. Through Jesus Christ, we have become a new creation, even more fitting a jewel than before. But it is still up to us, "with the help of thy Grace," to continue to be fitting.
No more...“Forsaken,”...but “My Delight,”... Recall these words Jesus spoke upon the Cross, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46b; cf. Psalm 22:2) Recall also what St. Matthew said, "This was to fulfill what had been spoken through Isaiah the prophet: 'Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom I delight;...'" (Matthew 12:17-18a; cf. Isaiah 42:1a). Because Jesus assumed our humanity, we now have a share in his divinity. Because the Father sees the Son in His creation, this passage also applies to us.
No more ...your land “Desolate,” but...your land “Espoused." "Yes, the LORD will grant his bounty; our land will yield its produce." (Psalm 85:13) Our efforts at producing good fruit on our own in our soul, the land of which Isaiah is alluding, is a fool's errand. Our efforts at appeasement are in vain. Only being united with Grace will our works be fruitful. Only then will the admonition in the Letter of St. James come true (cf. James 2:17-18).
As a young man marries a virgin, your Builder shall marry you;... Here is a return to the image of Bridegroom and Bride hinted at earlier. Here is where God pledges His love to us and for us. Here is where He forgives us. "For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with great tenderness I will take you back. In an outburst of wrath, for a moment I hid my face from you; But with enduring love I take pity on you, says the LORD, your redeemer." (Isaiah 54:7-8) It is from this covenantal image, along with the covenants God made throughout the Old Testament, that the Church's teaching on the Sacrament of Marriage comes.
...and as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride so shall your God rejoice in you. "Because God did not make death, nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living. For he fashioned all things that they might have being, and the creatures of the world are wholesome; there is not a destructive drug among them nor any domain of Hades on earth, for righteousness is undying." (Wisdom 1:13-15) God wants us to live and live forever. He rejoices when we are faithful to the covenant between Him and us and will take us back when we truly repent of breaking that covenant. Paraphrasing St. Augustine, while we were created by God without our consent, we can only be saved by God with it.
As I look back at the opening verse of this reading, like Isaiah, we cannot be mute in proclaiming the salvation of the world in Jesus Christ. Word and deed make us not only a disciple of Jesus but also a witness to the love of God. When we do those things, we affirm the reality of the Incarnation.
Just as it first came to be some 2,000+ years ago.
We announce vindication and victory.
Hodie Christus natus est.
