Sister JoAnn Sturzl
Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent
Isaiah 49:15
This passage from Isaiah offers so much tenderness, love, and comfort that I wonder if it was written by a woman. It is filled with beautiful metaphors: springs of water, a road through the mountains, no hunger or thirst, level highways, the tenderness of a mother toward her child. Such is God’s desire to be with us and to express tender love toward us. I recall a time in my life when I was experiencing darkness and feeling forsaken. My spiritual director suggested that I pray with Isaiah’s words: “Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you.” The passage helped me to know God’s mercy and love for me, and to move toward the light.
Might this reading also be speaking about God’s call to us to be a tender and loving presence to others? In what way are we called to lead others to springs of water, to cut a road through the mountains, to satisfy hunger and thirst, to comfort and show mercy to God’s people?