Johannine Hours - Isaiah 58,6-11  - May 1995

Untying the cords of the yoke, refusing all forms of violence... There
can be a suppressed violence which takes root, very often without my
knowing it, in the wounds I bear within myself. It is like a tourniquet
which presses upon the heart and which distorts my relationships with
others. Refusing violence means placing trust at the beginning of every
meeting.

Feeding, clothing, giving shelter means to satisfy the needs and
elementary rights of a human being. But it also implies caring for,
educating, listening to, giving an occupation to... in other words
recognising and developing all that is human in the other because he or
she is of my "own flesh". It means as well: making life possible,
alleviating suffering, restoring beauty and meaning to life.

"Do not turn away from your own flesh and blood", love others as you
love yourself. The prophet Isaiah notes that it is this which allows my
own wound to heal and for all that is in me to radiate. What seemed to
be an ethical demand is in the first place something which allows me to
become more fully human!

This then prepares a way for God's glory and the light of the
resurrection which is an attentiveness to all that concerns the human
being and the human creative capacity to serve. God trusts to the human
heart as a way of making himself known.

How can my life become a light and wellspring, a marker to help others
find their way. How can I bring to light the gifts and capacities of
others?

How has some meeting or some involvement for others transfigured, healed
or revealed a new dimension in my life?


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