Salvation is drawing near!
“Drop down dew from above, you heavens, and let the clouds rain down the Just One; let the earth be opened and bring forth a Saviour.” Isaiah 45:8 and Entrance Antiphon for the 4th Sunday of Advent.
When the Prophet Isaiah first uttered these words, they were in reference to the Persian emperor Cyrus. Cyrus allowed the People of God to be freed from their exile in Babylon and return to the Holy Land. Although Cyrus did not believe in the God of Israel, the Lord made him be his anointed one and the saviour of his people. Like dew that drops down from above, so too did God send Cyrus to deliver his people from bondage and be refreshed once again with the spiritual waters of prayer and sacrifice the flowed from the Jerusalem Temple that the people would soon rebuild.
The Church has seen in Isaiah 45:8 not only a prophecy about the emperor Cyrus but its ultimate fulfillment in the coming of the true Saviour, Jesus Christ. He truly descended like dew from above when came down from heaven to become incarnate in the womb of the Blessed Virgin and be born in that little town of Bethlehem.
In this final week of Advent, we might take time this week to read and meditate on the first chapter of the Gospels of Sts. Matthew and Luke to relive the events that lead up to the birth of Jesus. May they be source of spiritual refreshment for our souls and a means to open our hearts to the love of our Saviour.