Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord, our God!

In today's first reading, the prophet Isaiah has the following vision:  "I saw the Lord seated on  a high and lofty throne, with the train of his garment filing the temple. Seraphim were stationed above; reach of them  had six wings: with two they veiled their faces, with two they veiled their feet, and with two they  hovered aloft. They cried one to another, 'Holy, holy,  holy is the Lord of hosts!  all the earth is filled with  his glory!'"  Seeing this vision, Isaiah realized who he was and exclaimed: "'Woe is me, I am doomed!  For I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!'  Then one of the seraphim flew to me, holding an ember that he had taken with tongs from the altar. he touched my mouth with it and said, 'See, now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness if removed, your sin purged.'"

At every Catholic Mass, we proclaim: "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts. Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest."  And shortly after that prayer, the Lord God does come down upon our altar in the consecration of the bread and wine into the body and blood, soul and divinity of Christ when the priest ask the Spirit of God to transfigure the gifts into Christ Jesus. And God does just that through the consecrated hands of the priest, a gift of his ordination to the priesthood.

Holy, holy, holy" is our God. who, at every Catholic Mass,  stoops down from the heavens and, in Holy Communion, enters our bodies, minds, and souls, transforming us into Christ Jesus.  We are then sent out into the world to be the hands, the feet, the heart and minds of Christ to all we serve! And we are sent out, not alone, but with Christ living within us and working through us!

God Alone Saves

In yesterday's first reading, Isaiah 7: 10-14, God asked Ahaz to ask for a sign. He refuses to do so, thought his kingdom is in great jeopardy. A foreign nation is about to attack Israel and destroy its treasured possessions.  Ahaz himself had given into to worshipping pagan idols, even sacrificing one of his children to a foreign god.  Israel deflected, as had Ahaz.  Part of Israel's history is deflecting to foreign gods, not trusting God on their way to the Promised Land.  As with Adam and Eve, the Israelites abandoned their covenant with God, but God did not abandon His covenant with them, or with us.  When things looked bad,. Israel lost faith. 


In yesterday's Gospel, Joseph is confronted with a situation that looks as though everything in his life had gone terribly wrong: Mary is pregnant.  Joseph plans to divorce her quietly, hoping, no doubt, that she will not be put to death, a practice in his culture in the case of a woman who conceives a child out of wedlock.  At night in a dream an angel appears to Joseph and, in effect, says to him: "You got it all wrong, Joseph.  Mary was not playing around with another man nor was she raped.  The child in her womb was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit. That child is the Son of God assuming human form and He will save His people from their sins.  Do not be afraid to take Mary into your home as your wife."


You and I live in a world where everything seems to have gone terribly wrong. Pagan gods are worshipped everywhere, it seems and in every country of the world and every nation!  People seek salvation from their misery and emptiness in consumerism, materialism, power, prestige, popularity, wealth, relativism (anything seems to go--corruption, deception, violations of law). GOD ENTERS, as in Joseph's life and says to us:  "You got everything wrong. Turn to me and away from your idolatrous ways and thoughts.  As with Ahaz, our "cities," our "treasures" will eventually be destroyed. They have no power to save us. We have no power to save ourselves. Only God can save! And God comes to us, not in fire, not in an earthquake, but as an infant baby who wins the hearts of all, as does any infant.  God comes to us hidden in the consecrated host at every Catholic Mass. He comes to save us from ourselves, from our deception, corruption, selfishness, sinfulness. GOD ENTERS QUIETLY, HUMBLY, COMPASSIONATELY AND, DECEIVINGLY, WITH GOD-POWER TO MAKE US HOLY IN HIS NAME AND FOR HIS SAKE!