The afflicted and the needy seek water in vain,
their tongues are parched with thirst.
I, the LORD, will answer them;
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
I will open up rivers on the bare heights,
and fountains in the broad valleys;
I will turn the desert into a marshland,
and the dry ground into springs of water.
I will plant in the desert the cedar,
acacia, myrtle, and olive;
I will set in the wasteland the cypress,
together with the plane tree and the pine,
That all may see and know,
observe and understand,
That the hand of the LORD has done this,
the Holy One of Israel has created it.
(Is 41:17-21)
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Let the clouds rain down the Just One,
and the earth bring forth a Savior. (Is 45:8)
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I remember when I discovered that both pairs of my maternal great grandparents moved to California in the 1920’s. I happened to find a letter from one of them describing California as the “Garden of the Earth.” Compared with where they came from, Iowa (originally Denmark) and Kansas (originally Germany), I guess California must have seemed an oasis. I think of that letter from my ancestors when I read Isaiah’s description of water in abundance and of the desert becoming a marshland. May the clouds rain down the Just One, and the earth bring forth a Savior! The picture today is of the Garden of Delights by Hieronymus Bosch (1450-1516).
