Year C: 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

First Reading:  Isaiah 66: 10-14

The link between this Reading and the Gospel is not easy to find - but may be the promise that God will turn mourning and loss into rejoicing. In the new Jerusalem - the Kingdom - the people will find peace and comfort and will rejoice in all that God has done for them.

We are not accustomed these days to using the images of suckling and carrying and fondling as signs of God’s love for His people. So often, such images have been corrupted and we feel embarrassed and uncomfortable - yet for many people they are simply part of everyday life.

Yet, here “Jerusalem” is seen as a mother tenderly breast-feeding - nourishing - the people who live in her. They are comforted in her lap. We are left with images of tenderness and cherishing and are given glimpses of a new way of seeing God. God is a God of might and power who delivers His people from exile and slavery - God as Father who will protect and defend His children.

But God also protects and nurtures and, today, Isaiah offers us images of the Motherhood of God.

Like the child comforted by its mother - so we will be comforted by God.

What does it mean for me?

Do you find the image of God as a nurturing mother comforting or challenging? Explore why you respond as you do.

         Text © 2006 Wellspring

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