Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove your evil deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do good; seek justice; rescue the oppressed; defend the orphan; plead for the widow. Isaiah 1:16-17
“Wash yourself clean, so that you may hold a richer store of grace. Sins are forgiven equally for all, but communion in the Holy Spirit is given in the measure of each one’s faith. If you have done little work, you will receive little; if you have achieved a great deal, great will be your reward.”
Cyril of Jerusalem (313-386) in Catechetical 1 as recounted Milton Walsh in Witness of the Saints: Patristic Readings in the Liturgy of the Hours (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012) 330.
This is a powerful idea from Cyril today.
Everyone’s sins are forgiven equally, but we only commune with the Spirit to the extent that we live out our faith by doing good work with God. And it’s something Isaiah tells us that we learn.
We learn to “do good, seek justice; rescue the oppressed; defend the orphan; plead for the widow.” We discover in the process of doing these things that we find joy, satisfaction, and best of all, communion with the Spirit.
People often ask me how to hear God’s voice. Here’s my answer.
Learn to do the good God put you on earth to do. And I don’t mean the easy stuff. I mean the messy stuff of which Isaiah speaks: “do good, seek justice; rescue the oppressed; defend the orphan; plead for the widow.”
Three things will happen. I mean this, so listen closely.
Firstly, you will see the face of Jesus in those you serve. You will find Him in the hungry and needy person. In the least likely person, you will experience Him.
Secondly, you will hear the Spirit speaking to you, leading you, guiding you. You will pray without ceasing, asking, “What do I do?” And in response, the Spirit will show you, “This is the path, walk ye in it.”
Thirdly, you will experience the providence of the Father. You will have great needs, and in His time and way, He will supply. The process will stretch and grow your faith, but that’s how the father grows His children.
Praying for a richer store of grace for all who read this.