Homily for Tuesday, Week 15 of Ordinary Time

Homily for Tuesday
15th Week of Ordinary Time
Memorial of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel

Is 7: 1-9
July 16, 2024                                       
Christian Brothers, St. Joseph’s Residence, N.R.

Isaiah meets Ahaz
by Benn Matthew, https://medium.com/@benn29

Isaiah said to Ahaz, “Take care you remain tranquil and do not fear” (Is 7: 4).  Ahaz, king of Judah, faced an ungodly alliance of his Israelite cousins in the northern kingdom and the Gentile Arameans (Syrians).  To defend Jerusalem, Ahaz was about to invoke help from Assyria, effectively making Judah a vassal of that brutal pagan empire.

Isaiah tried to dissuade Ahaz, urging him to turn to God rather than the ruthless power of Assyria.  In this context Isaiah invited the king to ask for a sign from God in the verses immediately after today’s passage.  When Ahaz stubbornly demurred, the prophet gave him a sign anyway, that the young woman (the literal meaning of the Hebrew almah) would conceive and bear a son (7:14).

Ahaz lacked faith in God’s plans for Judah and for David’s dynasty, and in God’s prophet, as much as Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum lacked faith in Christ’s works and message (Matt 11:20-24).  God’s word in Christ and his activity in the virgin mother of Jesus invite us to have faith:  faith that “God upholds his city forever” (responsory).  Each of us is a city of God, a “holy mountain, fairest of heights,” (Ps 48:2-3), a joy to our Lord Jesus, precious to him.  He fortifies us with the maternal protection of Mary (collect) so that we may be kept safe from the conspiracies of Satan and his earthly allies.  “Take care and remain tranquil and do not fear,” for God is with us (cf. Is 7:14).

May we stand firm (cf. Is 7:9) with Christ and Mother Mary in keeping faith, resisting sin, and loving our brothers and sisters.