Today is the feast of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist.
Today's readings are Psalm 72:1, 4, 10-15, 18-19, Isaiah 51:17-52:12, and Matthew 2:1-12.
How often do we think of drunkenness and of God at the same time? It's probably pretty rare. Yet in our reading from Isaiah today we see that people who are under God's conviction are drinking from the wine bowl of God's wrath. They have come face to face with themselves like a drunk man who feels sorry for himself. What does God do? He takes away that bowl. He removes the sorrow and mourning from us as we are repentant, and he gives that sorrow and mourning to those who have oppressed us. Even in their evil, they are God's servants to bring us and others to repentance. Their turn will come.
How do we then treat those who oppress us? We should treat them with dignity and respect, knowing that God will work to judge them as well. How has God judged sin in these last days? We read all about that in Matthew 2, where we see that the Christ is born in humble surroundings but is the king that all the heavens have proclaimed. May the Lord show his mercy and grace on us, making us to look to him rightly.
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