A Time of Favor

"Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer, you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am." (Isaiah 58: 9)

When is the "then?"

There is a time of favor when God answers prayers as it were automatically. When is this time? The Church teaches that the season of Lent is a holy season of grace. But there are conditions to be fulfilled in this special season of Kairos. Isaiah 58: 9 – 14 lists these conditions:

• Offer your food to the hungry (deprive yourself for the hungry)
  
• Satisfy the needs of the afflicted
  
• Refrain from breaking the Sabbath
  
• Desist from oppression
  
• Do away with the clenched fist and the malicious words
  

The favors promised are:

• Your light will rise in the darkness
  
• Your darkest hour will be like noon
  
• You will be like a watered garden
  
• Your ancient ruins will be rebuilt
  
• You will be called rebuilder of broken walls
  
• You will find true happiness in Yahweh
  
• You will triumph over conditions on earth