There is a connection

Although it mightn't seem obvious at first sight, we can find a connection between the two readings today. First of all, the prophet Isaiah (10:5-7,13-16) sees the attacks on Israel by the Assyrians as God's plan to punish his people because they had become a godless nation. But the Assyrians did not understand that they were God's instruments and attributed all that they were doing to their own strength and intelligence. But Isaiah hears the Lord saying, ''Does the axe claim more credit than the man who wields it!'' Jesus teaches a similar lesson in the gospel from Mattthew 11:25-27. Faith in Jesus is a gift freely given to those who are open to receive it and not to those who think that they can grasp it by their own intellectual efforts. ''I bless you, Father'' says Jesus, ''for hiding these things from the learned and clever and revealing them to mere children.'' We do not need a university degree to experience the love of God; the prophet Amos looked after sheep and fig trees and God called him. Most of the Apostles were fishermen. They believed in Jesus and their faith increased by their personal contact with him. We too have been given the gift of faith so now we seek to understand more through our gospel reading, prayer and striving to live according to the values of the Kingdom. The Contemporary English Version of the New Testament translates Mark 9:24 as a good prayer; ''I do have faith! Please help me to have even more.''

 

Don Hornsey