This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.
One of the most powerful statements in the Old Testament, found in today’s reading, is not often quoted as such: “So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.”
God is not a pathetic god, sending futile groans and lamentations out into the ether, decrying all those things are not as He would like.
No, in spite of the evidence of the reign of sin, God Himself is absolute ruler, and evil only exists to the extent that God made space for freedom–including that ability for freedom to turn away from Him. Evil, as evil as it is, and as good as God is, fits into His good plan.
Thus, He is not a pathetic, sad, lamenting god in need of our help, but the absolute Lord of the universe.
This quote from the first reading tells us that when God intends something, it happens, pure and simple. He does not set a process in motion only to watch it run aimlessly and fruitlessly. The image used to illustrate this is a beautiful one. It is the image of the process that He Himself set in motion for nature: That water falls from the sky, and it serves its purpose on earth of irrigating and giving life perfectly before it returns to the sky. (It is as if the ancients understood the process of evaporation…)
So, when we are moved by the Holy Spirit, it is not in a whimsical or aimless way, but to accomplish that which He has determined is to be accomplished. That push of the Holy Spirit is not to return to God void, but is to achieve the end for which it was intended.
But in the end, what is it that God wills–that Jesus Christ, His eternal Word, has descended like rain to accomplish, before ascending again to the skies?
It just so happens that the answer jumps out at us from today’s gospel, where it is clearly written in black and white. “Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.” Jesus has come to save His chosen ones, those ready to use their freedom to follow Him. This is the coming of the Father’s Kingdom; this is the fulfillment of His will.
Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus to make you, like Him, the effective instrument of the Father, the efficient catalyst of His glorious, eternal, saving plan for humanity. Ask Him to make you a word that does not return to Him void, but does His will, achieving the end for which He sent it.
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