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| Isaiah |
The first is that Christ, as God-Man, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, was calling the Jewish people to a completely new emphasis in their faith, which was foretold by the prophets (Advent readings abound), but mostly ignored.
The reason the prophecies were ignored and finally rejected, and the fact that this rejection led to Christ's suffering and death, provides us all with a simple reflection for our own times.
Christ was not the political, military Messiah the Jews had come to prefer. Like so a many at the time of Christ, liberation no longer meant freedom from sin, but from oppressors. The materialist, utopian ideal of a Jewish nation dominated the imaginations and aspirations of the people, especially under the harsh rule of the Romans (one of many harsh rulers, of course).
I have traveled in recent years to five countries and have discovered that the ideal of utopianism has supplanted the hope of the kingdom of God. This is one of the great evils of both socialism and communism. Political realities are important, but not at the expense of the ignoring of spiritual realities. If some Catholics talk about money and politics constantly, and do not talk about God and His Plan for us all, their hearts are simply in the wrong place.
The Kingdom of Man has replaced the Kingdom of God in their hearts.
Matthew did quote Isaiah 9, the great Messianic prophecy, in his Gospel-but what did Matthew mean?
Matthew 4:12-17
Douay-Rheims
12 And when Jesus had heard that John was delivered up, he retired into Galilee:
13 And leaving the city Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capharnaum on the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim;
14 That it might be fulfilled which was said by Isaias the prophet:
15 Land of Zabulon and land of Nephthalim, the way of the sea beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles:
16 The people that sat in darkness, hath seen great light: and to them that sat in the region of the shadow of death, light is sprung up.
17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say: Do penance, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Look how Matthew skillfully place Isaiah 9 in the context of the Kingdom of Heaven, which is an internal, spiritual kingdom. Of course, if one truly repents, is purified and reveals the virtues of this kingdom, things would change- but not all.
Too many Catholics, including priests, stress the exterior changes and ignore the interior repentance needed.
Too many Catholics are too busy, too noisy, not listening to the real call of the Messiah in their hearts.
To be continued....