Comfort

A Reflection on the First Reading for Sunday, January 12th, 2025:
The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

---

Isaiah
40.1-5, 9-11

​Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her that she has served her term,
that her penalty is paid,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.

A voice cries out:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Get you up to a high mountain,
O Zion, herald of good tidings;
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings,
lift it up, do not fear;
say to the cities of Judah,
“Here is your God!”

See, the Lord God comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.
He will feed his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms,
and carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead the mother sheep.

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

My favourite sweatpants. An oversized chunky sweater. Fuzzy socks. A fluffy blanket straight out of the dryer. A hot cup of tea. On my couch. This list came to mind when I read the first word of this scripture passage: comfort. 

“Comfort” and the notion of seeking, desiring, and creating comfort stayed with me. Maybe it’s the time of year. Maybe I’m more tired than I thought. Maybe there are things the Spirit is stirring in my heart. More likely than not, it is a combination of all three.

When I just want to stay in my comfort bubble, I hear the words attributed to the late Pope Benedict: “You were not made for comfort. You were made for greatness.” I often think of these words. And really, with all due respect Pope Benedict, right now I want comfort. But whose comfort? The kind I create with the items I listed above, or the comfort offered to me by our gracious God? The prophet Isaiah is clear: God gives us comfort. So maybe the point of Pope Benedict’s words is not to eschew comfort completely but rather to emphasize that I am not made for human comfort. I was made for the comfort offered me by God which will root me in a confidence that leads to greatness.  

If I am made in God’s image, then I am made to be great in His image – and there’s no denying that our God is great. In this passage God offers comfort to His people. To do so, God comes into the world through the Son and literally changes the world, quashing our fears. But when I seek to create my own comfort, my concerns and anxieties easily blind me to this greatness and my access to it. My head is down and I cannot see beyond what’s in front of me. I get stuck in the weeds of my worries. I can’t see the forest beyond the trees – unless I look up. 

When I look up, I see beyond myself. I see God, Who clears away all the stuff that prevents me from seeing Him and living up to the greatness for which He has called and created me. And God provides people to remind me to look up and make space for Him – people like John the Baptist. John certainly was not living in comfort. In fact, rather than seeking comfort, he was more likely to make others uncomfortable. Making space when you’re comfortable isn’t easy. Just try to squeeze next to me on the couch when I’m comfortable! Yet John, and other faithful friends — past, present, and future – witness the consistent and constant presence of God’s comfort, mercy, and love, which is accessible to all, if we make room, if we prepare the way, if we let ourselves be uncomfortable in order to be comfortable in God.  


Aurea Sadi

---