Characters of Advent: Isaiah
The voice of Isaiah accompanies our Preparation for Advent series. This Conference Audio is the first of three parts exploring the Characters of Advent, not named Jesus. The Book of Isaiah is the largest book and was often referred to as the fifth Gospel, because of its importance in shaping the faithful. Sixty-six chapters in length, the first 39 chapters are attributable to Isaiah the Prophet, and were written 750+ years before the Nativity of Jesus. The remaining chapters are attributed to an unnamed prophet that shared the same spirituality as Isaiah. The chapters were combined long ago. The last several (40-66) chapters were written a few hundred years after the initial chapters.
The beginning chapters may be characterized as focusing on Judgement, where as the later chapters’ focus is on comfort / consolation, and salvation. Isaiah did not ask to become a prophet. He was granted an audience / a vision of God in All His Glory. God who is Pure and Holy. Isaiah realized that he could not survive being near God, given his impurities. Heaven and God have no evil and no impurities. The book (and the audio) explains what happens to Isaiah next as he accepts the responsibility to be a messenger of God.
Through Isaiah, we have come to know several names of Our Lord, the one whom he announced was coming (see above quotes and Audio #3 for a list of some of these names). Chapter 7 and Chapter 9 contain passages we are most familiar with announcing the coming of the Lord. See the quotes above for a snippet from these two chapters. Chapter 7 is covered in Audio #2.
Following the Preparation for Advent Conference (which may be found here), this series further deepens our preparation. In this conference we hear about the Coming of Our Lord. Isaiah also points out about the one who proclaims in the wilderness (St. John the Baptist), which will be covered in next week’s Conference Audio. The series will conclude with a discussion of Our Lady, highlighting how she will assist us in Preparing for Advent.
We hope this series of Conference Audio assists you in your Spiritual Journey.
The audio is arranged as follows:
- An introductory reading of Isaiah (Ch 11) and a Homily is contained with audio #1 – 23 minutes. This serves as an introduction to Isaiah to the second audio.
- Audio #2 reveals details concerning the Book of Isaiah and about Isaiah himself, and covers many of the topics written by Isaiah, including Chapter 7. – 60 minutes
- Audio #3 is broken into 2 sections – conclusion on the conferences of Isaiah – 13 minutes and Litany of Jesus 13 minutes for a total of 26 minutes
Introduction to Isaiah
