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From: Isaiah 49:1-6

Second Song of the Servant of the Lord

[1] Listen to me, O coastlands,
and hearken, you peoples from afar.
The LORD called me from the womb,
from the body of my mother he named my name.
[2] He made my mouth like a sharp sword,
in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me a polished arrow,
in his quiver he hid me away.
[3] And he said to me, You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”
[4] But I said, “I have labored in vain,
I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;
yet surely my right is with the LORD,
and my recompense with my God.”
[5] And now the LORD says,
who formed me from the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him,
and that Israel might be gathered to him,
for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD,
and my God has become my strength —
[6] he says:
“It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to restore the preserved of Israel;
I will give you as a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

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Commentary:

49:1-55:13. Chapter 49 marks the start of the second section of the second part
of Isaiah. The first section (40:1-48:22) dealt with the release of the Jews from
exile in Babylon on the orders of the Lord, the ruler of the world and of all nations.
This second section sings of the restoration of Zion and the renewal of the peo-
ple.

Almost all the oracles here presuppose that Babylon has fallen and the exiles
have returned home (although neither event is explicitly referred to). Nor is there
mention of the universal scope of salvation: the focus is mainly on future hopes
and on Jerusalem.

Most of the oracles in this section were probably proclaimed, between the years
515 and 500 BC. If that was the case, then they were addressed to a disillusioned
people: the enthusiasm that came with the return from exile and the efforts made
to rebuild Jerusalem failed to produce the desired results: there are still class dif-
ferences, greed is plain to see, and huge sectors of society are experiencing po-
verty. The kind of Jerusalem that the exiles dreamed of had not come about: it
bore no relationship to what they were experiencing; nor did it fit the image of Je-
rusalem found in many texts of the Priestly tradition (cf. “Introduction to the Pen-
tateuch”, in “The Navarre Bible: Pentateuch” (p. 20). These oracles are designed
to dispel discouragement and to raise people’s hopes by telling them about the
liberator that God is going to send, the servant of the Lord, and by proclaiming
that the holy city (now given the sacred name of Zion) will very soon be restored.
In fact, the section can be divided into alternating poems on the servant and on
Zion: 49:1-13, the “servant” (second oracle); 49:14-50:3, “Zion”; 50:4-11, the “ser-
vant”, (third oracle and exhortation); 51:17-52:12, Zion; 52:13-53:12, the “servant”
(fourth oracle); 54:1-17, “Zion” (Jerusalem). Verses 1-13 of chapter 5

49:1-6. In the first Song of the Servant of the Lord (42:1-9) we meet the “servant”
for the first time and we are told of his mission to liberate the exiles. In this se-
cond song, the servant himself speaks. He addresses the “coastlands”, “peo-
ples from afar”, and he is conscious of having been chosen by God from his mo-
ther’s womb to carry out God’s plans of salvation even in those distant parts (cf.
vv. 1-3). Here we are told about two aspects of his mission, which we will hear
more about in the oracles that follow. First, he is to play a leading role in the re-
covery of the tribes and the repatriation of the exiles (v. 5); second, he will ex-
tend salvation to the ends of the earth (cf. v. 6).

This poem contains things that the servant has to say about himself (vv. 1-4),
and things that God says about the servant (vv. 5-6). The servant is well aware
that he was called by God, even from his mother’s womb, (like Jeremiah; cf. Jer
1:5) and has been charged with preaching to the pagan peoples (”the coast-
lands”) or at least to his compatriots in the diaspora (cf. v. 1; cf. Jer 1:1-10; 25:
13-38); he has been endowed with qualities that enable him to speak out, with
words that find their mark like arrows, even if that creates divisions (v. 2; cf. Jer
1:10); and also, despite the divine protection given him, he feels depressed and
disappointed, as happened to Jeremiah (vv. 3-4; cf. Jer 1:7; :8:18-20). Everything
that the servant does is grounded on what the Lord has told him: “You are my
servant, Israel” (v. 3). Some commentators are of the view that “Israel” here is a
later interpretation, put in to support the collectivist interpretation of the servant
that soon became widespread; but there is little evidence to support that: the
word “Israel” is missing only in one manuscript, and not an important one at that.
The mention of Israel does not argue against the servant’s being an individual ra-
ther than a collectivity, for in poetry a person can be addressed by his own name
or by his family name. In fact, both in biblical Israel and nowadays we often find
people using their place of birth as a surname.

In vv. 5-6 the Lord spells out the servant’s mission: it is to renew the people in
such a way that even non-Israelites can see the light and attain salvation. Al-
though the universal mission of the servant is not clearly defined here, for his
work is meant to be confined to the tribes of Jacob, still the achievement of this
objective (the re-assembling of Israel) will be a kind of light to help the pagan
nations see and acknowledge God. The expression “light to the nations”. (v. 6)
already occurred in the earlier poem (42:6); there it could be taken in a social
sense — to bring about the liberation of the exiles and captives; here, the reli-
gious meaning is clear: salvation will spread to all the nations.

To sum up, the servant of the Lord (be he an individual or a collectivity, or more
likely both) has been chosen by God, who loves him most specially; he has all
the main qualities of a prophet; and he must influence his compatriots so as to
enlighten those from outside, and bring them salvation.

The messianic interpretation of the servant figure, based on this second song,
was widespread among the Jews of Alexandria who made the Septuagint Greek
translation; it was also held by members of the Qumran community and by
some authors of the period between the Old and New Testaments (the author of
the “Book of Enoch”, for example). All these interpreted the servant as standing
for the entire people of Israel. Christians, from the beginning, applied the songs
of the servant to Jesus, and saw them as finding fulfillment in his life. Thus, al-
though the image of the “sharp sword” (v. 2) refers to the effectiveness of the
word of God, in Hebrews 4:12-13 we find it used with reference to Revelation as
a whole which is fully and perfectly manifested in Jesus Christ (cf. also Rev 1:16
and 2:12). We find the expression, “light to the nations” or “light to the peoples”
being applied by Simeon to Jesus (Lk 2:32). Indeed, in the Acts of the Apostles
it is applied to those who, in line with Jesus’ teaching and as cooperators in his
work of salvation, are setting out to preach to the Gentiles, as the words Paul
and Barnabas speak in the synagogue of Psidian Antioch testify: “It was neces-
sary that the word of God should be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it from
you, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.
For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, ‘I have set you to be a light for the
Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the uttermost parts of the earth” (Acts
13:46-47).

Hence the Church sees her mission as spreading the truth about Jesus, the light
that enlightens everyone: “The light, of God’s face shines in all its beauty on the
countenance of Jesus Christ, ‘the image of the invisible God’ (Col 1:15), the ‘re-
flection of God’s glory’ (Heb 1:3), ‘full of grace and truth’ (Jn 1:14). Christ is ‘the
way, and the truth, and the life’ (Jn 14:6). [...] Jesus Christ, the ‘light of the na-
tions’, shines: upon the face of his Church, which he sends forth to the whole
world to proclaim the Gospel to every creature (cf. Mk 16:15). Hence the Church,
as the people of God among the nations, while attentive to the new challenges of
history and to mankind’s efforts to discover the meaning of life, offers to everyone
the answer which comes from the truth about Jesus Christ and his Gospel” (St.
John Paul II, “Veritatis Splendor”, 2).

*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: Acts 13:22-26

Preaching in the Synagogue of Antioch of Pisidia

[In those days, Paul said:] [22] And when He had removed him, He raised up Da-
vid to be their king; of whom He testified and said, “I have found in David the son
of Jesse a man after My heart, who will do all My will.’ [23] Of this man’s posterity
God has brought Israel a Savior, Jesus, as He promised. [24] Before His coming
John had preached a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. [25] And
as John was finishing his course, he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am
not He. No, but after me One is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not wor-
thy to untie.’” [26] “Brethren, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among
you that fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation.

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Commentary:

16-41. Paul’s address here is an excellent example of the way he used to present
the Gospel to a mixed congregation of Jews and proselytes. He lists the benefits
conferred by God on the chosen people from Abraham down to John the Baptism
(verses 16-25); he then shows how all the messianic prophecies were fulfilled in
Jesus (verses 26-37), and, by way of conclusion, states that justification comes
about through faith in Jesus, who died and then rose from the dead (verse 38-41).

This address contains all the main themes of apostolic preaching, that is, God’s
saving initiative in the history of Israel (verses 17-22); reference to the Precursor
(verses 24-25); the proclamation of the Gospel or “kerygma” in the proper sense
(verses 26b-31a); mention of Jerusalem (verse 31b); arguments from Sacred
Scripture (verses 33-37), complementing apostolic teaching and tradition (verses
38-39); and a final exhortation, eschatological in character, announcing the future
(verses 40-41). In many respects this address is like those of St. Peter (cf. 2:14ff;
3:12ff), especially where it proclaims Jesus as Messiah and in its many quota-
tions from Sacred Scripture, chosen to show that the decisive event of the Resur-
rection confirms Christ’s divinity.

Paul gives a general outline of salvation history and then locates Jesus in it as
the expected Messiah, the point at which all the various strands in that history
meet and all God’s promises are fulfilled. He shows that all the steps which lead
up to Jesus Christ, even the stage of John the Baptist, are just points on a route.
Earlier, provisional elements must now, in Christ, give way to a new, definitive
situation.

“You that fear God” (v. 26): see the notes on Acts 2:5-11 and 10:2.

*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: Luke 1:57-66, 80

The Birth and Circumcision of John the Baptist

[57] Now the time came for Elizabeth to be delivered, and she gave birth to a
son. [58] And her neighbors and kinsfolk heard that the Lord had shown great
mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. [59] And on the eighth day they came
to circumcise the child; and they would have named him Zechariah after his father,
[60] but his mother said, “Not so; he shall be called John.” [61] And they said to
her, “None of your kindred is called by this name.” [62] And they made signs to
his father, inquiring what he would have him called. [63] And he asked for a wri-
ting tablet, and wrote, “His name is John.” And they all marvelled. [64] And im-
mediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing
God. [65] And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked
about through all the hill country of Judea; [66] and all who heard them laid them
up in their hearts, saying “What then will this child be?” For the hand of the Lord
was with him.

[80] And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness
till the day of his manifestation to Israel.

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Commentary:

59. Circumcision was a rite established by God under the Old Covenant to mark
out those who belonged to His chosen people: He commanded Abraham to insti-
tute circumcision as a sign of the Covenant He had made with him and all his de-
scendants (cf. Genesis 17:10-14), prescribing that it should be done on the eighth
day after birth. The rite was performed either at home or in the synagogue, and,
in addition to the actual circumcision, the ceremony included prayers and the na-
ming of the child.

With the institution of Christian Baptism the commandment to circumcise ceased
to apply. At the Council of Jerusalem (cf. Acts 15:1ff), the Apostles definitely de-
clared that those entering the Church had no need to be circumcised.

St. Paul’s explicit teaching on the irrelevance of circumcision in the context of
the New Alliance established by Christ is to be found in Galatians 5:2ff; 6:12ff;
and Colossians 2:11ff.

60-63. By naming the child John, Zechariah complies with the instructions God
sent him through the angel (Luke 1:13).

64. This miraculous event fulfills the prophecy the angel Gabriel made to Zecha-
riah when he announced the conception and birth of the Baptist (Luke 1:19-20).
St. Ambrose observes: ‘With good reason was his tongue loosed, because faith
untied what had been tied by disbelief” (”Expositio Evangelii Sec. Lucam. in loc.”).

Zechariah’s is a case similar to that of St. Thomas, who was reluctant to believe
in the resurrection of our Lord, and who believed only when Jesus gave him clear
proof (cf. John 20:24-29). For these two men God worked a miracle and won their
belief; but normally He requires us to have faith and to obey Him without His wor-
king any new miracles. This was why He upbraided Zechariah and punished him,
and why He reproached Thomas: “Have you believed because you have seen Me?
Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe” (John 20:29).

80. “Wilderness”: this must surely refer to the “Judean wilderness” which stret-
ches from the northwestern shores of the Dead Sea to the hill country of Judea.
It is not a sand desert but rather a barren steppe with bushes and basic vegeta-
tion which suit bees and grasshoppers or wild locusts. It contains many caves
which can provide shelter.

*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

Readings at Mass

These readings are for the Vigil Mass on the evening before the feast:

First reading

Jeremiah 1:4-10 ©

The word of the Lord was addressed to me, saying,

‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;

before you came to birth I consecrated you;

I have appointed you as prophet to the nations.’

I said, ‘Ah, Lord; look, I do not know how to speak: I am a child!’

But the Lord replied,

‘Do not say, “I am a child.”

Go now to those to whom I send you

and, say whatever I command you.

Do not be afraid of them,

for I am with you to protect you –

it is the Lord who speaks!’

Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me:

‘There! I am putting my words into your mouth.

Look, today I am setting you

over nations and over kingdoms,

to tear up and to knock down,

to destroy and to overthrow,

to build and to plant.’

Psalm

Psalm 70:1-6,15,17 ©