Isaiah 55:10-11

Occasionally some parishioner asks me to include in my blog a quote or a reflection that I used in one of my homilies or article that I wrote. Someone from time to time remembers a quote I used in the past and they ask me to try to remember what they had heard but forgotten, which is usually impossible to remember. But this weekend a parishioner asked to do a visual meditation on a reading from Isaiah we used in our liturgy yesterday. It speaks about the blessings we receive from God, especially in the form of rain or snow, which then makes the earth fertile and productive. In the same way, the Word of God reaches our ears and leaves an impact, changing our lives forever. This quote parallels the parable of the seed and the sower we also reflected on in yesterday’s beautiful Gospel. But here is the quote from Isaiah, chapter 55, verses 10 and 11:

Thus says the LORD:
Just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down and do not return there till they have watered the earth, 
making it fertile and fruitful,
giving seed to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth;
my word shall not return to me void, but shall do my will,
achieving the end for which I sent it.