Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7
Isaiah 42 begins Second Isaiah, written in exile. The first
four verses portray the Messiah as a servant of God. The Gospel of Matthew
explains that this servant of God, in the person of Jesus,
is God.
The Lectionary draws attention to Isaiah 42:1, my chosen one with whom I am pleased and
Matthew my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Isaiah is less than
keen about extending the covenant to the Gentiles, even as he writes about a light for the nations (Isaiah 42:6). Matthew is more accepting of the Gentiles, even
though Matthew is probably writing for
educated, nearby Jews. These Jews were familiar with the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice Issac.
The beloved son is
an essential background reference to Isaac,
the son whom Abraham was prepared to
sacrifice. God the Father sacrifices Jesus
in a manner parallel to Isaac. The
Faithful, too, participate, in making their God their most precious possession,
no matter the cost. The potential sacrifice of Isaac
serves as background for the voices from heaven, both at the baptism and
transfiguration of Jesus.
Second Isaiah in the person of the prophet, demonstrates new
insight, when, from exile, he portrays the Messiah as not crying out, not shouting (Isaiah 42:2). The Jews wanted a
Messiah to bring them out of exile; they certainly were in no mood to expect the
Gentile, Cyrus, acting in the name of
God to set them free. Cyrus enabling
the Jews to return to Jerusalem
made the point that the courage of Isaiah proclaiming his new insights was true
to his vocation.
Isaiah 42:1-4 enriches what will become the third beatitude,
“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” The Messiah, then, has
a law-observant and non-violent vocation. Well, maybe. Perhaps current versions
of pacifism overly influence such an understanding.
Pay, pray, and obey Christianity may also overly influence such an
understanding. In any event, contemplating the Beatitudes with the Baptism of
Jesus helps understanding the vocation of Jesus
and his Faithful followers.
The Isaian promise of the Messiah contains a utility for
learning about God. The notion of meekness is useful for teaching. Jesus says, “Learn from me for I am meek and humble
of heart.” Jesus means he will not
hurt the learner. Jesus is the
promised Messiah.
Isaiah 42:6-7 pertain to the priestly vocation commission in
Acts 26:18. The priest is called both to be righteousness and to teach about
righetousness. The priest becomes a covenant between God and the Faithful. The
priest is a light to the Gentiles.
The first priest is Jesus, which the
priesthood of Holy Orders and of the Faithful follow. The priesthood of the
Faithful is particularly seen in nuns, such as the Poor Clares. The Notes
refer to the Poor Clare nuns not to disparage any other apostolate, but because
of my peculiar, particular, personal proclivities.
Isaiah 42:7 about bringing out from the dungeon, those who live in darkness is about Poor Clare
light, shining from Mount Saint Francis in New
Kent County,
Virginia.
Darkness signifies satanic authority that the nuns utterly defy in their
contemplative lives. Liberation from Satan brings
the joy of soul expressed by the Responsorial antiphon for Psalm 27:11b, The Lord will bless his people with peace.
Psalm 29:1-2, 3-4, 9-10
The Lectionary only uses Psalm 29, one of the ancient
enthronement psalms,
here. Cycle B for the Baptism of Jesus uses Isaiah 12:2-3, 43b c d, 5-6 rather
than any psalm at all. Cycle C uses Psalm 104, both here and at Easter and
Pentecost. Notes only began part way though Cycle A at Pentecost, May 19, 2002 and then
proceeded to Cycles B and C. That means, from here until Pentecost, these Notes
develop from Cycles B to C to A.
Psalm 29 promises peace to the Faithful from God, whose very
throne rests “upon the subdued waters of chaos.”
Peace is an attribute of whoever may be in charge. The irony is that when the
Faithful give themselves to their God, their God gives them charge of
themselves. Divine peace enables the Faithful to exhibit courage in the face of
new insights, for example with the insight that the ordinaries in charge of
their dioceses colluded with sexual misconduct by cover up.
Are any ordinaries exculpated from the cover-up? I do not
pretend to know. I do know it is the Faithful, not the ordinaries, crying to
heaven for justice in this matter. That knowledge grieves my heart.
Just before Psalm 29:9c, the Lectionary draws
attention that The God of glory thunders
in parallel with Matthew 3:17, a voice of
heaven came from the heavens. Third Isaiah begins to change the meaning of Jerusalem and Zion
to the hearts of the Faithful, the place of the Messianic Kingdom of God. The
covenant gives courage in the face of new insights. I find that the voice of
God does not so much thunder (with
Isaiah) as come (with Matthew and Mark)
into my heart.
Acts 10:34-38
Peter reluctantly
extends the Kingdom
of God to the Gentiles in
the person of Cornelius. With Peter,
the Exodus becomes an event not only for the Jews but also for Christians. In Matthew 3:13
Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan
to be baptized. In Acts 10:37, Jesus
began his public ministry in Galilee after his
baptism. According to Saint
Gregory the Great (540-603) one of
the Four Great Western Fathers of the Church, whom Saint Thomas Aquinas cites,
Galilee
means passing-over.
Jesus shows the Faithful that they,
too, can bring new light into the world with their insights passing over from
sin to grace.
Acts 10:35, anointing with
the Holy Spirit and power also applies to the Faithful as they cut their
own ways through the morass of evil with which they must contend. In Luke’s Acts, the miracles of Jesus
result from the power of the Holy Spirit. Matthew
gives Jesus the Messiah credit
directly for his miracles.
Jesus is more in
charge of his own destiny in Matthew,
the Gospel for Cycle A. The Gospel of Matthew has special pertinence in this
age of deceitful shepherds, permitting exploitation of the Faithful by
predatory priests. The Gospel of Matthew thematically portrays Jesus in conflict with the established religious
authorities.
Cf. Mark 9:7
The Lectionary uses thundered, though the reference to Mark
only has came, as does Matthew. The Lectionary uses Mark 9:7, the
Second Sunday of Lent, Cycle B. But how does God speak to the Faithful, through
thunder or a gentle breeze? I think the gentle breeze has the greater impact.
For example, the relatively loud enthusiasm of the annual charismatic Mass at my
Our Lady of Mount Carmel parish in Newport
News, Virginia, I
find distracting, calling my attention to the enthusiasts rather than the voice
of our common God. I think that may be why the Faithful never hear shouting and
wailing at the Poor Clare monastery in New Kent County, but rather the soothing calm of
Gregorian Chant.
Matthew 3:13-17
The Gospel of Matthew begins by establishing that Jesus is the Messiah as the Son of God,
then, the embodiment of Israel,
the People of God. Jesus finally goes
out to combat Satan, succeeding where Israel
failed. Such is the basic outline of Matthew,
from 2:13-15 (Holy Family Sunday, 17A) to 3:13-17 (the reading for today), to
4:1-11 (First Sunday of Lent, 22A).
Here, in Chapter 3, the major theme of Matthew
begins to take hold, namely that Jesus
is the coming judge of the world.
The first main part of the Gospel of Matthew lasts from 1:1 to 4:16. The second main part,
discharging his public ministry to Israel lasts from 4:17 to 16:20, appearing in the Lectionary
twenty-one more times, all in Cycle A.
In this spirit, John
points out that he needs to be baptized by Jesus,
rather than the other way around (Matthew
3:14). In the same spirit,
Jesus does not confess his sins or
repent, and thereby distinguishes himself from the Faithful. Jesus simply takes his stand with Israel. Jesus
identifies himself with the Faithful on the margins of society. The Holy Spirit
descends upon Jesus and not upon the
People of God.
In turn, the Faithful can identify themselves with those further to the margins
of society than they themselves. This happens politically with social welfare
programs. In a democratic society, everyone identifies with everyone else.
In his sermon, “That Prayer is to be placed Before all
Things,” Saint Basil
the Great (330-379) Bishop of Caesarea and one of the Four Great Eastern
Doctors of the Church, proclaims, “I have committed many sins, and taken no
notice of them.” This proclamation as a reference to material sins arising from
unconscious acts suits even Poor Clare nuns, to say nothing of yours truly. Isaiah
42:1 leaves the impression that righteousness is directly dependent upon God.
For Jesus, there would have been no
sin, not even unconscious material sin, but for John
the Baptist, who knows? After all, he was jumping around in his mother’s womb.
At our parish Masses, the Faithful frequently hear about evil
thoughts in sermons. The Venerable Bede (672-735), Priest and Doctor
elaborates. Evil thoughts come in three kinds. One is deliberation to commit
sin. Another is dallying with deliberation without committing the sin. Finally,
are plain distractions that prevent the mind from focusing on God, as Bede puts it, “with the vexatious importunity of flies.”
The meaning of these readings is courage in the face of new
insights, both personal and societal. Second Isaiah has to stand up to change
the perceived notion of the coming Messiah. The enthronement psalm refers more
to the inward hearts (and thoughts that concern parish sermons) of the Faithful
than exterior grandeur and shouting. In the Acts of the Apostles, Peter concludes that the Messiah is for Gentiles as
well as Jews. Finally, John the
Baptist is confused, but acts with courage anyway, when Jesus
appears with the Faithful for baptism due to sin. The real baptism of Jesus due to sin comes with his passion and death.
The Exodus is about his resurrection from the dead not only in the hearts of
the Faithful, but also in his own life everlasting in which the Faithful also
participate.
For more on sources see the Appendix file, which will be
updated sometime after Christmas. I completed these Notes December 19, 2004 for January 9, 2005. This
three-week lead gives me time to reconsider and mellow what I have written.