Currently our land is flooded with water, and it seems it cannot take anymore rain. But at the same time, our souls are thirsty and our hearts faint as in a dry and weary land where there is no water (see Psalm 63:1). Because we believe, we know that the human heart thirsts for the Lord—and, although we are still thirsty like a dry weary land, we are blessed because we know for what we are longing, while those who do not believe experience emptiness beyond comprehension, that becomes a terrifying desert. This blessing is like soft rain, like dew, which is hardly felt—it is not heavy—but enough to permeate the land and for trees to produce their fruit.
During the Advent Season, the Liturgical tradition of the Church frequently uses a verse taken from the second part of the book of the Prophet Isaiah—which focuses on the liberation of God’s people from the Babylonian Exile that was seen as close at hand due to the political changes that were happening in the Middle East at that time. In particular, in the entrance antiphon of the Fourth Sunday of Advent, the Church prays with the words of the Prophet Isaiah:
Shower, O heavens, from above, and let the skies rain down righteousness; let the earth open, that salvation may sprout forth, and let it cause righteousness to spring up also.
Isaiah 45:8
Therefore, in preparation for the celebration of the beginning of our liberation from sin and death through the birth of God made man, and while we await the realisation of this freedom in a complete way when we meet the Lord face to face, it is not without cause that the Church reiterates many times these words: this is a cry for the heavens to open, that grace may pour down so that salvation may spring forth from the earth, for us also in our day.
This salvation springs forth from the earth because, although grace comes from heaven, this same grace does not come down in its fullness but gives life to the earth, and life to the heart of man, in order that the presence of the God that saves sprouts from within it. It is salvation that sprouts from the earth because he chose to dwell in this world and become one of us. This salvation still sprouts from the earth because he still comes to us today through the fruit of the earth and work of human hands that become his body and blood, that journeyed on this earth, in order that he may strengthen us in our journey in this world.
As we draw closer to Christmas, may we ask the Lord for the grace that the earth will once more be receptive and soften, so that it may receive within it his mercy, in order that righteousness may sprout through our actions, words, thoughts, and desires, which are simply human but are also imbued with his justice and righteousness.