Isaiah 58:6-11
Chapter 58
Fast by sharing your food with the hungry, bring to your house the homeless, clothe the one you see naked and do not turn away from your own kin.
Then will your light break forth as the dawn and your healing comes in a flash. Your righteousness will be your vanguard, the glory of the Lord, your rearguard.
Then you will call, and the Lord will answer, you will cry, and he will say, I am here. If you remove from your midst the yoke, the clenched fist and the wicked word,
if you share your food with the hungry and give relief to the oppressed, then your light will rise in the dark, your night will be like noon.
The Lord will guide you always and give you relief in desert places. He will strengthen your bones; he will make you as a watered garden, like a spring of water whose waters never fail.
Commentaries
Fasting.
This poem highlights the difference between false and proper worship. A perfect liturgical celebration, according to the rubrics, is meaningless if acts of charity toward the disadvantaged do not accompany it. True worship is demonstrated by works of mercy.