The prophets often use the metaphor of interrupted marriage to describe the relationship between God and Israel—a metaphor entwined with cultural values distant from our own. Israel is sometimes compared to the wife who has been unfaithful. God is the spouse who abandons. The metaphors can be problematic for us, in a way they were not for the original audience.
In today’s first reading Isaiah uses the metaphor, in a passage describing how God restores the relationship with Israel, described in turn as a deserted wife, a widow, and then “forsaken and grieved in spirit.” Finding a saint to delicately balance against the ancient metaphor is a challenge. One who endured young widowhood, misunderstanding, and poverty, and found sainthood in service is Elizabeth Ann Seton, first American-born citizen to be canonized.
Mother Seton found consolation and conversion in the Catholic faith after her husband’s death. Many obstacles remained, as she raised five children while attempting to start a school in the fledgling United States. She went on to found the Sisters of Charity, first women’s religious congregation in America, and give her country its first parish school and Catholic orphanage. She remains a powerful example for her religious family, which still flourishes today, and embodies a tenderness and strength that might resonate with old Isaiah as well!
—adapted from the book Advent with the Saints: Daily Reflections
by Greg Friedman, OFM
