Blockage Removal

A Reflection on the First Reading for December 22nd, 2019:
Fourth Sunday of Advent

Isaiah 7.10-14

The Lord spoke to Ahaz, saying, “Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.”

Then Isaiah said: “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary the people, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel.”

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I sometimes ask God for signs; signs that tell me, assure me, that He loves me and will always be here, that He will provide everything I need, and that as crazy as it sounds, that the Creator of the Universe did indeed come to earth as a baby in a manger. More often than signs, I ask God for forgiveness, and for Him to show me what’s blocking Him from entering into my heart, mind, and soul absolutely; unconditional surrender on my part.


I have to say that one of the most wonderful gifts I have received from the Lord is when He shows me my sin, the thing that blocks “the abundant life” (John 10:10). Think of how a blocked artery affects the heart. There’s pain, discomfort, and probably depression. That’s what sin is like… it blocks the Holy Spirit, it blocks the heart from loving. When I feel out of sorts and down, for no reason I can think of, I ask God to show me what is causing the blockage; is it emotional or spiritual? Is it what I have done or left undone?

"When I feel out of sorts and down, for no reason I can think of, I ask God to show me what is causing the blockage; is it emotional or spiritual? Is it what I have done or left undone?"

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This Advent, I have been reading and meditating on the daily reflections offered by Bishop Robert Barron (Word On Fire). I had been struggling with dealing with a few people, a problem I had with them because they were not doing ‘the right thing’. They didn’t do what I do, and I am doing it right! Bishop Barron called it ego; pride. I am proud that I am in the right on this issue and critical and disdainful of people who are not. Here is what he says:


“What is it that makes our lives heavy and weighed down? Precisely the burden of our own egos, the weight of one’s own self. When I am puffing myself up with my own self-importance, I’m labouring under all that weight. Jesus is saying, "Become a child. Take that weight off your shoulders and put on the weight of my yoke, the yoke of my obedience to the Father."


God is a good Father and as such, He corrects His children. I cannot fully explain the joy I felt when He showed me my sin of pride, because in doing so, He removed the blockage.


When Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test”, that’s pride. Ahaz is saying he can do it alone and with the help of others like him. He doesn’t need to call on God. “If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.” This is what my commentary on this passage says. Ahaz placed his faith in the King of Assyria, not in God. 

"Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel." (God with us) which is certainly "deep as Sheol or high as heaven."

As crazy as it sounds, I put my faith firmly in this promise.


Judy Savoy

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