February 25, 2026

By Father William Muench
NCC columnist

It is Lent. This year for Lent, I have decided to read and pray with the Old Testament prophets. This gives me a good opportunity to praise God with the words of the prophets and to meditate on their messages. Actually, this will be rather new for me. It has been some time since I have studied the prophets. Recently, I read a book by Father Richard Rohr. That book led me this study.

Today, I plan to begin by sharing with you some thoughts I have about the Book of Isaiah, Chapter 40. Scripture scholars teach that the Book of Isaiah was written by three different people. Chapter 40 begins the second part of the Book of Isaiah. I have discovered this chapter to be a perfect help for my Lenten retreat. The writer of this chapter begins by telling us that God always speaks to his people with consolation. He tells us God speaks to his people, his Jerusalem, tenderly. Even today, we believe that God speaks to us not as a judge but with consolation. The prophet teaches us that there has been atonement for sin. The words of the prophet: “Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God. Speak to the heart of Jerusalem and proclaim to her that her service has ended, that her guilt is expiated. She has received from the hand of the Lord double for all her sins.”

Now, during this Lent, the prophet leads us to our loving God. This becomes a time for repentance and reconciliation with our God. The prayers and mortification of Lent give us a unique opportunity to renew our relationship with God. The prophet teaches us to realize that God comes to us with comfort and compassion. Our Lenten prayer brings the joy and peace of the Lord; we experience God’s forgiveness with gratitude. There is hope – a hope filled with happiness, a new and stronger hope as we journey through Lent.

The prophet gave his people hope for their time – the time is coming for the Messiah. He writes to words that are quoted in the New Testament – there will be someone coming to this world to make the world ready for the Messiah. In Chapter 40, these are the words of the prophet, “A voice proclaims in the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord: make straight in the wasteland a highway for God. Every valley shall be lifted up, every mountain and hill made low.”

We can recognize that this will be John the Baptist. He will be the one who will come to prepare the world for the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Today, in our Lenten prayer, we should allow John the Baptist to again lead us closer, more alive, in our relationship with our Lord. The prophet gives us hope that we can and must accept Jesus into our lives as our Savior.

The prophet then goes on to pray and celebrate the greatness of God. We should realize that God comes as the herald of good news. This prophet has charged his people and now us to discover the message of Lent – a message of trust and hope in the God who cares for us with compassion. Our God comes to us with power and yet tends His flock like a shepherd. God continues to carry us like lambs in his arms. During Lent we must allow our Lord to guide and lead us like our shepherd.

Lent is our time to spend some time with our Savior, Jesus, who comes to us as a good shepherd. The prophet presents the image of the Good Shepherd centuries before Jesus, and today, this is an important image for us – our Lord is a loving, forgiving Savior for us all. May the Good Shepherd show us the way as we celebrate Lent now.