2 Kings 19:21-31: Preparation
Saturday, January 19, 2019
We have spent time reflecting on Hezekiah and his story of fidelity to God. Today we make this story our own with prayer. We make preparation to strengthen our faith; we prepare to trust in God.
Have you not heard it? Long ago I prepared it, from the days of old I planned it.
Not only is God eternal, so are his plans. This does mean to say that our lives are predetermined or predestined in any way. What this does mean to say is this: God in his infinite and merciful economy has devised a way . . . and this way turns all harm to good . . . for those who join his remnant in foreign lands and foreign times. For those who return to the covenant promise, for those who remain in the Spirit of the Beatitudes, there is a certain reward: life in the light which is the Mystical Body of Christ. This is the good news we have heard proclaimed all Easter Week. It is the same good news we hear proclaimed today. There is no greater story. There is no happier word. There is no other love that waits in this way . . . for all to turn and return.
In today’s reading, the king of Israel, Hezekiah, follows God’s advice and allows God to overcome the enemy king of Assyria, Sennacherib. We have spent time reflecting on this incident before but today we focus on the isolated words of the Lord . . .
Have you not heard it? Long ago I prepared it, from the days of old I planned it.
And just as Yahweh turned harm to good in the story of Hezekiah and in the story of Jesus, so too does he move in our lives today. We remember that the angel of the Lord struck down enemy troops. We remember that the Lord himself came to save us on the cross. And we also remember that even after his death he returned to the locked room where he friends hid in fear . . . to open hearts, to open minds, to open up the darkness to the light, to open up the stinginess of the world to his love.
As remnant, we do well to prepare to receive this deepest of hopes, this most powerful of forces, this irresistible love that cannot be quenched.
From the MAGNIFICAT Evening Prayer: Strengthen us in faith, O Lord!
That we may praise your power among those who are poor in faith, and encourage them by our good example. Strengthen us in faith, O Lord!
That we may praise your love among those who do not know you, and be Christ’s ambassadors to those who seek with sincere hearts. Strengthen us in faith, O Lord!
That we may praise your glory among those who fear death, and show them the path to life. Strengthen us in faith, O Lord!
May God keep us firm to the end, irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Images from: http://bibleandarchaeology.blogspot.com/2010/12/ancient-record-of-biblical-king.html and http://concordpastor.blogspot.com/2011/04/variations-on-caravaggios-doubting.html
Cameron, Peter John. “Evening Prayer.” MAGNIFICAT. 19.4 (2009): 129-130. Print.
For more information on the Sennacherib Prism, click on the image above or go to: http://bibleandarchaeology.blogspot.com/2010/12/ancient-record-of-biblical-king.html
The Noontimes 