Conforming (phase 2), - Jesus enters Jerusalem and the Temple- Concluding the Second Phase (step 21) - session 7

Comfort, comfort my people, 
says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that her warfare is ended,
that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the LORD's hand
double for all her sins.
A voice cries:
"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.
And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken."
A voice says, "Cry!"
And I said, "What shall I cry?"
All flesh is grass,
and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.
The grass withers, the flower fades,
when the breath of the LORD blows upon it;
surely the people is grass.
The grass withers, the flower fades;
but the word of our God will stand for ever.
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, fear not;
say to the cities of Judah,
"Behold your God!"
Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
behold, 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,
he will carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead those that are with young. - Is 40:1-11

We generally get the first half of this passage during Advent. How appropriate to revisit it in the context of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, and to thereby connect his Incarnation with his mission!

Our Shepherd has come to carry us home to him! He who alone is fit to judge us comes instead to be judged by us, to take upon himself both the judgment we deserve and the judgment we proclaim. (Thanks again, Fr. Neuhaus! Even during a Lent in which I am not rereading Death on a Friday Afternoon, I find that his insights into Jesus' crucifixion still resonate within me.)

I feel as if I am short-changing this wonderful reading, and this conclusion of the second phase, for the sake of the calendar. Still, this has been a good journey thus, one that has been marked by a longer period of graceful discipline than I have ever known. I pray that the remaining phases, though shorter than this one, may also be a time of continued hunger to know my Lord more intimately, even as he knows me.