In today's first reading, Isaiah 49: 1-6, Isaiah speaks of his call: "The Lord called me from birth, from my mother's womb he gave me my name. He made of me a sharp-edged sword and concealed me in the shadow of his arm. He made me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me. You are my servant, he said to me, Israel, through whom I show my glory....[T]he Lord has spoken who formed me as his servant from the womb, that Jacob may be brought back to him; and I am made glorious in the sight of the Lord, and my God is now my strength!....I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth!"
Today, I believe, we need an "Isaiah" and a "John the Baptist"--"sharp-edged swords" and "polished arrows" to bring our country back to the Lord's ways. We need an "Isaiah" and a "John the Baptist" to prepare the way for justice to thrive and injustices to be destroyed. We need an "Isaiah" and a "John the Baptist", true servants of the Lord, to challenge those desiring to be treated as gods themselves above all others or those making gods of absolute wealth, absolute power and absolute control at the expense of the poor, of immigrants, of minorities and of the environment itself.
However, let us not forget that God has called each one of us at birth to be His servants, to be persons through whom His glory shines by the choices we make to bring forth a just world, a world of righteousness and truth, a world governed with love! We are called to be a light in the darkness of this world, not persons who darken the world by our selfishness, domination and control of others for our own benefit!
What kind of choices am I, are you, making?
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