Monday, March 28, 2011

Isa 45, 5-8 I am the LORD and there is no other

(Isa 45, 5-8) I am the LORD and there is no other

[5] I am the LORD and there is no other, there is no God besides me. It is I who arm you, though you know me not, [6] so that toward the rising and the setting of the sun men may know that there is none besides me. I am the LORD, there is no other; [7] I form the light, and create the darkness, I make well-being and create woe; I, the LORD, do all these things. [8] Let justice descend, O heavens, like dew from above, like gentle rain let the skies drop it down. Let the earth open and salvation bud forth; let justice also spring up! I, the LORD, have created this.

(CCC 2795) The symbol of the heavens refers us back to the mystery of the covenant we are living when we pray to our Father. He is in heaven, his dwelling place; the Father's house is our homeland. Sin has exiled us from the land of the covenant (Cf. Gen 3), but conversion of heart enables us to return to the Father, to heaven (Jer 3:19-4:1a; Lk 15:18, 21). Jn Christ, then, heaven and earth are reconciled (Cf. Isa 45:8; Ps 85:12), for the Son alone "descended from heaven" and causes us to ascend there with him, by his Cross, Resurrection, and Ascension (Jn 3:13; 12:32; 14 2-3; 16:28; 20:17; Eph 4:9-10; Heb 1:3; 2:13). (CCC 2796) When the Church prays "our Father who art in heaven," she is professing that we are the People of God, already seated "with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus" and "hidden with Christ in God" (Eph 2:6; Col 3:3); yet at the same time, "here indeed we groan, and long to put on our heavenly dwelling" (2 Cor 5:2; cf. Phil 3:20; Heb 13:14). [Christians] are in the flesh, but do not live according to the flesh. They spend their lives on earth, but are citizens of heaven (Ad Diognetum 5: PG 2, 1173).

No comments: