Accept the redeeming grace of our Lord Jesus Christ while you still can, turn back your heart fully to Him. For He desires an intimate relationship with you, to turn your dry bones to flesh and give you life to the full!
Yes indeed do not be afraid, you will not be put to shame, do not be dismayed, you will not be disgraced. I did forsake you for a brief moment, but with great love will I take you back. My love for you will never leave you and my covenant of peace with you will never be shaken, says the Lord.
He will wash us clean and make us white as snow, then we shall become messengers of His love, to turn hearts back to Him just as St John the Baptist did. Amen
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First reading
Isaiah 54:1-10 ·
With great love I will take you back
Shout for joy, you barren women who bore no children!
Break into cries of joy and gladness, you who were never in labour!
For the sons of the forsaken one are more in number
than the sons of the wedded wife, says the Lord.
Widen the space of your tent,
stretch out your hangings freely,
lengthen your ropes, make your pegs firm;
for you will burst out to right and to left.
Your race will take possession of the nations,
and people the abandoned cities.
Do not be afraid, you will not be put to shame,
do not be dismayed, you will not be disgraced;
for you will forget the shame of your youth
and no longer remember the curse of your widowhood.
For now your creator will be your husband,
his name, the Lord of Hosts;
your redeemer will be the Holy One of Israel,
he is called the God of the whole earth.
Yes, like a forsaken wife, distressed in spirit,
the Lord calls you back.
Does a man cast off the wife of his youth?
says your God.
I did forsake you for a brief moment,
but with great love will I take you back.
In excess of anger, for a moment
I hid my face from you.
But with everlasting love I have taken pity on you,
says the Lord, your redeemer.
I am now as I was in the days of Noah
when I swore that Noah’s waters
should never flood the world again.
So now I swear concerning my anger with you
and the threats I made against you;
for the mountains may depart,
the hills be shaken,
but my love for you will never leave you
and my covenant of peace with you will never be shaken,
says the Lord who takes pity on you.
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Gospel
Luke 7:24-30
‘A prophet, and much more than a prophet’
When John’s messengers had gone, Jesus began to talk to the people about John. ‘What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swaying in the breeze? No? Then what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? Oh no, those who go in for fine clothes and live luxuriously are to be found at court! Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet: he is the one of whom scripture says:
See, I am going to send my messenger before you;
he will prepare the way before you.
‘I tell you, of all the children born of women, there is no one greater than John; yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he is. All the people who heard him, and the tax collectors too, acknowledged God’s plan by accepting baptism from John; but by refusing baptism from him the Pharisees and the lawyers had thwarted what God had in mind for them.’
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