Friday, December 9, 2011

The Lord, Your Redeemer

The Old Testament reading for today’s Eucharist comes from the 48th chapter of the Book of the Prophet Isaiah who writes:
Thus says the Lord,
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
I am the Lord your God,
who teaches you for your own good,
who leads you in the way you should go.
O that you had paid attention to my commandments!
Then your prosperity would have been like a river,
and your success like the waves of the sea;
your offspring would have been like the sand,
and your descendants like its grains;
their name would never be cut off
or destroyed from before me. (Isa. 48: 17-19).
Today’s selection comes from what Scripture scholars call “deutero” or “second” Isaiah, that being chapters 40 to 55, because these chapters are believed to have been written by an anonymous prophet toward the end of the Babylonian exile (around 586 to 538 years before Christ) who was a follower of the prophet Isaiah. From this section come the Servant Songs, which are reflected in the New Testament understanding of the passion and glorification of Christ.

Isaiah is truly to prophet for Advent; it calls us to repentance and to follow the way of the Lord. It reminds us that God does not abandon His people, although His people often abandon God. God is the Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. God is also with us, Emmanuel.

Let us pray: O Lord our Redeemer, come with great might among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.

CALENDAR REMINDERS

The Advent Series (Hope, Peace, Joy and Love) continues every Sunday after the service.

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List, especially Katie, Roylene, Robert, the unemployed, the poor, the weary, the depressed, the lonely, and those who have no one to pray for them.

“The dogma of the Incarnation is the most dramatic thing about Christianity, and indeed, the most dramatic thing that ever entered the mind of man; but if you tell people so, they stare at you in bewilderment.” —Dorothy Sayers

Your servant in Christ,

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+
St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550

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