Spiritual Quote of the Day (Book of Isaiah, As the Prophet’s Lips Are Anointed With Fire)

“I said, ‘Woe is me, I am doomed!
For I am a man of unclean lips,
living among a people of unclean lips;
yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!’
Then one of the seraphim flew to me,
holding an ember that he had taken with tongs from the altar.
 
He touched my mouth with it, and said,
‘See, now that this has touched your lips,
your wickedness is removed, your sin purged.’
 
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying,
‘Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?’
‘Here I am,’ I said; ‘send me!’"—Isaiah 6:5-8
 
The image accompanying this post, Isaiah’s Lips Anointed with Fire, was created in 1772 by the American-born English artist Benjamin West (1738-1820), one of a series of paintings commissioned by King George III to decorate a chapel at Windsor Castle.

Spiritual Quote of the Day (Book of Isaiah, on the Mountain Where God Will Destroy ‘The Shroud That Enfolds All Peoples’)

“On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare
    a feast of rich food for all peoples,
a banquet of aged wine—
    the best of meats and the finest of wines.
On this mountain he will destroy
    the shroud that enfolds all peoples,
the sheet that covers all nations;
      he will swallow up death forever.
The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears
    from all faces;
he will remove his people’s disgrace
    from all the earth.
The Lord has spoken.
In that day they will say,
 
‘Surely this is our God;
    we trusted in him, and he saved us.
This is the Lord, we trusted in him;
    let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.’”—Isaiah 25: 6-9 (New International Version)

(This detail of Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel shows the prophet Isaiah.)
 

Spiritual Quote of the Day (Book of Isaiah, With God Strengthening ‘Those With Fearful Hearts’)

“Strengthen the feeble hands,
    steady the knees that give way;
say to those with fearful hearts,
    ‘Be strong, do not fear;
your God will come,
    he will come with vengeance;
with divine retribution
    he will come to save you.’
 
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened
    and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
Then will the lame leap like a deer,
    and the mute tongue shout for joy.
Water will gush forth in the wilderness
    and streams in the desert.
The burning sand will become a pool,
    the thirsty ground bubbling springs.
In the haunts where jackals once lay,
    grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.”—Isaiah 35: 3-7 (New International Version)
 
(This detail of Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel shows the prophet Isaiah.)

Spiritual Quote of the Day (Book of Isaiah, on God As ‘My Strength and My Song’)

“ ‘Behold, God is my salvation;
    I will trust, and will not be afraid;
for the Lord God is my strength and my song,
    and he has become my salvation.’
With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” —Isaiah 12:2-3 (Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition)

(The image accompanying this post is the detail of the prophet Isaiah from Michelangelo’s ceiling for the Sistine Chapel.)

Spiritual Quote of the Day (Book of Isaiah, on a Soul That ‘Rejoices in My God’)

“I delight greatly in the Lord;
    my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
    and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
    and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
For as the soil makes the sprout come up
    and a garden causes seeds to grow,
so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness
    and praise spring up before all nations.”— Isaiah 61:10-11 (New International Version)

(The image accompanying this post is Michelangelo’s depiction of the prophet in the Sistine Chapel.)

Quote of the Day (Book of Isaiah, With the Prophet’s Temple Experience of Live Coal and God)

“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another:

‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;

    the whole earth is full of his glory.’

At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

‘Woe to me!’ I cried. 'I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.’

Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, ‘See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.’

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’

And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’”—Isaiah 6: 1-8 (New International Version)

This, the first reading at this morning’s Mass, was so extraordinary in the scene it depicted that I knew I had to use it right away for this blog post.

(This detail of Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel shows the prophet Isaiah.)

Quote of the Day (Book of Isaiah, on God’s Servant, Bringing ‘Justice to the Nations’)

“Here is my servant, whom I uphold,

    my chosen one in whom I delight;

I will put my Spirit on him,

    and he will bring justice to the nations.

 He will not shout or cry out,

    or raise his voice in the streets.

 A bruised reed he will not break,

    and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.

In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;

     he will not falter or be discouraged

till he establishes justice on earth.

    In his teaching the islands will put their hope.”—Isaiah 42: 1-4 ((New International Version)

(This detail of Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel shows the prophet Isaiah.)

Quote of the Day (Book of Isaiah, on the Tree of Jesse)

“A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;

    from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—

    the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,

    the Spirit of counsel and of might,

    the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord

and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.” —Isaiah 11: 11-3

(The image accompanying this post is The Tree of Jesse, a 1500 oil-on-panel painting by Jan Mostaert.)