Second Sunday of Year C
January 2010
We continue this week in the Liturgy with the theme of Epiphany. That is the revelation or showing of what our God is like.
The first reading is from the Prophet Isaiah.
Isaiah lived about 750 BC. He wrote this prophecy ‘You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
For the Lord delights in you.
For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your builder marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.’
At the time and for many centuries afterwards this description of God was taken with a pinch of salt. It was regarded as poetic hyperbole. Not to be taken seriously. After all God was the King and Creator of the Universe and must be something like earthly kings and emperors, only more so. That is, if you gave total unquestioning obedience and grovelled continually you might get places. If not, you ended up in the dog house, if you were very lucky.
Even today many of us have this erroneous attitude towards our God.
On the contrary, these descriptions of our God, as we read in Isaiah, must be taken very seriously indeed. They are factual.
‘As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride so shall God rejoice over you.’
What a beautiful description of God’s attitude to me.
What a true description of what God is like.
If I have any doubts let me examine the crucifix.
My God, the Supreme Being, Creator of heaven and of earth, became a human being and went through all this so that He might convince me of what He is like.
Truly the only conclusion is that He is besotted with love for me.