Mary visits Elizabeth

Treasures of Our Faith with Deacon Richard Vehige

Today, December 21th, as we celebrate the final days of Advent our Church invites us to first read and reflect on a passage from the book of the prophet Isaiah (48: 12-21; 49: 9b-13) entitled “The new Exodus”. Our treasure, which follows, is from a commentary on Luke by Saint Ambrose, bishop.

The days at the end of Advent, from December 17 to Christmas, are designated by the Catholic Church to prepare for the celebration of Christmas. These days have special significance because they mark the beginning of the "O" Antiphons and the final days of Advent. These antiphons are a series of seven prayers, one for each day. They are sung during Evening Prayer, Vespers, or the Magnificat. The antiphons are based on Old Testament prophecies and use biblical imagery to proclaim the coming of Christ. The "O" Antiphons are the basis for the popular Advent hymn "O come, O come, Emmanuel".

Ambrose was born of a Roman family at Trier about the year 340. He studied at Rome and served in the imperial government at Sirmium. In 374, while, living in Milan, he was elected bishop of the city by popular acclaim and ordained on December 7. He devotedly carried out his duties and especially distinguished himself by his service to the poor, and as an effective pastor and teacher of the faithful. He strenuously guarded the laws of the church and defended orthodox teaching by writings and actions against the Arians. He died on Holy Saturday, April 4, 397. Saint Ambrose is a Doctor of the Church.

As a Greek scholar Saint Ambrose interpreted Eastern theologians for the West, a work that was much needed. He not only wrote a commentary on Luke, he wrote extensively on the Bible, theology, and asceticism, and he wrote numerous homilies and psalms. As befitted a bishop, his teaching was more by his sermons than his writings. His discourses were very practical.

Isaiah, one of the greatest of the prophets, appeared at a critical moment in Israel’s history. The Northern Kingdom collapsed, under the hammerlike blows of Assyria, in 722/721 B.C., and in 701 Jerusalem itself saw the army of Sennacherib drawn up before its walls. In the year that Uzziah, king of Judah, died, Isaiah received his call to the prophetic office in the Temple of Jerusalem. Close attention should be given to chapter six, where this divine summons to be the ambassador of the Most High is circumstantially described.

The vision of the Lord enthroned in glory stamps an indelible character on Isaiah’s ministry and provides a key to the understanding of his message. The majesty, holiness and glory of the Lord took possession of his spirit and, at the same time, he gained a new awareness of human pettiness and sinfulness. The enormous abyss between God’s sovereign holiness and human sinfulness overwhelmed the prophet. Only the purifying coal of the seraphim could cleanse his lips and prepare him for acceptance of the call: “Here I am, send me!”

The ministry of Isaiah extended from the death of Uzziah in 742 B.C. to Sennacherib’s siege of Jerusalem in 701 B.C., and it may have continued even longer, until after the death of Hezekiah in 687 B.C. Later legend (the Martyrdom and Ascension of Isaiah) claims that Hezekiah’s son, Manasseh, executed Isaiah by having him sawed in two. During this long ministry, the prophet returned again and again to the same themes, and there are indications that he may have sometimes re-edited his older prophecies to fit new occasions.