Toward the end of this passage from Isaiah, the prophet represents God as admitting that he had indeed abandoned Israel, but affirms that this abandonment was only "for a brief moment". Then there follows the consolation of a great divine promise: "with great tenderness, I will take you back". Isaiah's name means "The Lord is salvation", and the vision contained in the name was a characteristic of his personality. He taught clearly that God would not save us by means of force and violence, but rather through suffering, the suffering of a very special "Servant". We believe this Servant to be Jesus, and so, as we prepare to celebrate the great mystery and grace of Jesus' birth, let us listen with an attentive heart to the hope which Isaiah seeks to bring alive in our heart. Let us understand with great patience that God does not save us from suffering but through suffering let us try to find God's consoling tenderness even in the middle of the great evil that afflicts our world with so much suffering.