CT - Catholic Telegraph

Our mission as servants of God

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (A), Isaiah 49:3, 5-6 (Lectionary 064, Jan. 16, 2005)

Each year the Sundays of Ordinary Time present a semi-continuous reading of one of the Gospels: Matthew in Year A, Mark in Year B, Luke in Year C. The Gospel of John is distributed throughout other parts of the year. We hear from John on three of the Sundays of Lent and on five of the Sundays of Easter Time. In year B, the Gospel readings are from John on Sundays 17 to 21, in part to make up for the relative brevity of Mark’s Gospel, in part to insure that the eucharistic discourse of Jesus in John 6 gets heard in the course of the cycle. The Second Sunday in Ordinary Time in all three years also offers us readings from John. These readings are concerned with the first public manifestations of Jesus and so continue the theme of the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. They also present episodes from John (Jesus’ baptism, the call of the first disciples, the wedding at Cana) that are important for us to hear.

This Sunday’s first reading and Gospel reading are not connected by a quotation in the Gospel from the Old Testament reading, as was the case last Sunday and will be the case next Sunday. Rather, on this Sunday the connection is a single word: world.

In the Gospel, the Baptist points to Jesus as "the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." In the Old Testament reading, we hear about God’s servant who would bring salvation to the ends of the earth.

This first reading, like last week’s reading, is from Second Isaiah, that part of Isaiah composed during the exile to offer comfort to the Israelites who had been carried off to Babylon. Last week’s reading was from the first of the four Servant Songs that form such an important part of Second Isaiah. This week’s reading is from the second of these important prophetic poems that Christian readers have always read as applying to Christ.

Last week’s reading showed us the Lord describing His servant. This Sunday’s reading shows us the servant proclaiming what the Lord had said to him. The mission of the servant was foreseen long ago by God, before the servant was even born. He was to be an agent of God’s glory in bringing God’s people back to their homeland. He would act with the strength of God and be glorious in God’s sight. But all that wouldn’t be enough for the servant to do. The servant’s mission would extend far beyond his countrymen to be "a light to the nations," and to bring the salvation that God offers "to the ends of the earth." (Note that at the beginning of the reading, God seems to refer to the servant as a collective, as the whole people of Israel, while a few lines later God looks on him as an individual human being.)

This world view that we find in this Old Testament reading is not a rare or unusual teaching. It occurs often in Isaiah (in last week’s reading, for example), as well as in Micah (4:1-3), Jeremiah (12:15-16), Zephaniah (3:9-10), and in some of the psalms. God wanted His people to be ready to share in extending His love and care to all His human creatures, not just to the offspring of Abraham He had chosen for the beginnings of His saving plan. Nobody was to be excluded.

The fact that God’s servant seems to be both an individual and a collective at the beginning of our reading seems to suggest that the task of leading all the gentiles to the Lord would be a responsibility for the whole of God’s people.

The Baptist proclaims Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world because Jesus is the servant of God that the author of Isaiah had foreseen in the Servant Songs. The saving mission of Jesus would be the saving mission of the servant in Isaiah. Jesus would be a light to the nations, His mission reaching to the ends of the earth.

But just as our Isaiah text refers to the whole people of Israel as the servant, so also the mission of Jesus is not confined to His personal activity. His people, His church is called to share in His mission. That means us. We are all called to help Jesus take away the sins of the world. We are all called to be a light to the nations and bring salvation to the ends of the earth.

One is inclined to wonder how good a job we do in that aspect of our calling. We tend to look after our own salvation, to pray for and care for only those who are close to us, to be interested only in what we are familiar with and understand. One is inclined to wonder how well we carry out our responsibilities as God’s servant, as extensions of the mission of the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

For reflection and discussion

How wide are the horizons of my faith, hope and love?

How do I contribute to the salvation of the world?



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	*Overtures* Reflection on the first readings of the Sunday liturgy By Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk Our mission as servants of God Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (A), Isaiah 49:3, 5-6 (Lectionary 064, Jan. 16, 2005) Each year the Sundays of Ordinary Time present a semi-continuous reading of one of the Gospels: Matthew in Year A, Mark in Year B, Luke in Year C. The Gospel of John is distributed throughout other parts of the year. We hear from John on three of the Sundays of Lent and on five of the Sundays of Easter Time. In year B, the Gospel readings are from John on Sundays 17 to 21, in part to make up for the relative brevity of Mark’s Gospel, in part to insure that the eucharistic discourse of Jesus in John 6 gets heard in the course of the cycle. The Second Sunday in Ordinary Time in all three years also offers us readings from John. These readings are concerned with the first public manifestations of Jesus and so continue the theme of the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. They also present episodes from John (Jesus’ baptism, the call of the first disciples, the wedding at Cana) that are important for us to hear. This Sunday’s first reading and Gospel reading are not connected by a quotation in the Gospel from the Old Testament reading, as was the case last Sunday and will be the case next Sunday. Rather, on this Sunday the connection is a single word: world. In the Gospel, the Baptist points to Jesus as "the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." In the Old Testament reading, we hear about God’s servant who would bring salvation to the ends of the earth. This first reading, like last week’s reading, is from Second Isaiah, that part of Isaiah composed during the exile to offer comfort to the Israelites who had been carried off to Babylon. Last week’s reading was from the first of the four Servant Songs that form such an important part of Second Isaiah. This week’s reading is from the second of these important prophetic poems that Christian readers have always read as applying to Christ. Last week’s reading showed us the Lord describing His servant. This Sunday’s reading shows us the servant proclaiming what the Lord had said to him. The mission of the servant was foreseen long ago by God, before the servant was even born. He was to be an agent of God’s glory in bringing God’s people back to their homeland. He would act with the strength of God and be glorious in God’s sight. But all that wouldn’t be enough for the servant to do. The servant’s mission would extend far beyond his countrymen to be "a light to the nations," and to bring the salvation that God offers "to the ends of the earth." (Note that at the beginning of the reading, God seems to refer to the servant as a collective, as the whole people of Israel, while a few lines later God looks on him as an individual human being.) This world view that we find in this Old Testament reading is not a rare or unusual teaching. It occurs often in Isaiah (in last week’s reading, for example), as well as in Micah (4:1-3), Jeremiah (12:15-16), Zephaniah (3:9-10), and in some of the psalms. God wanted His people to be ready to share in extending His love and care to all His human creatures, not just to the offspring of Abraham He had chosen for the beginnings of His saving plan. Nobody was to be excluded. The fact that God’s servant seems to be both an individual and a collective at the beginning of our reading seems to suggest that the task of leading all the gentiles to the Lord would be a responsibility for the whole of God’s people. The Baptist proclaims Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world because Jesus is the servant of God that the author of Isaiah had foreseen in the Servant Songs. The saving mission of Jesus would be the saving mission of the servant in Isaiah. Jesus would be a light to the nations, His mission reaching to the ends of the earth. But just as our Isaiah text refers to the whole people of Israel as the servant, so also the mission of Jesus is not confined to His personal activity. His people, His church is called to share in His mission. That means us. We are all called to help Jesus take away the sins of the world. We are all called to be a light to the nations and bring salvation to the ends of the earth. One is inclined to wonder how good a job we do in that aspect of our calling. We tend to look after our own salvation, to pray for and care for only those who are close to us, to be interested only in what we are familiar with and understand. One is inclined to wonder how well we carry out our responsibilities as God’s servant, as extensions of the mission of the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. For reflection and discussion** How wide are the horizons of my faith, hope and love? How do I contribute to the salvation of the world?

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