Yesterday, we heard from the first of the servant songs from Isaiah chapter 42: “Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased… I formed you, and set you… To open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.” God’s servant has a mission, and that first servant song foretells how that mission will be successful.
Today we read a selection of the second servant song from isaiah chapter 49. Isaiah foretells how, God's servant will be successful and victorious in carrying out his mission, but he will also experience some difficulty, even feelings of failure. “I thought I had toiled in vain, and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength.” There were points in his ministry, where the Lord’s miracles and preaching were met, not with conversion and belief, but with hardness of heart and attempts to silence him. And then it appears that the servant feels defeated in the midst of this overwhelming task assigned to him by God. And yet, his discouragement is quickly transformed into confidence as he acknowledges that all he is doing and will do is for God’s sake and mission. Despite initial difficulties, the servant proclaims, “I am made glorious in the sight of the Lord, and my God is now my strength!”
Now notice in the Gospel today, at the last supper, St. John tells us, Jesus was deeply troubled, he had intuited that one of his closest friends was going to betray him, and that the head of the apostles, Peter was going to deny him. After all this time, after all the miracles they had witnessed, how could these closest ones not get it. The words of the servant song, perhaps piercing his heart, “I thought I had toiled in vain, and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength.”
But just like the servant song, after speaking of discouragement, the Lord speaks of glory. “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.” Even if his own friends betray him and abandon him, he will glorify God, God’s merciful love will be made known in Jesus’ Passion of Death, the mission will be victorious.
It is good for us to ponder what was going on in the heart of the Lord during Holy Week, at the last supper, during his Passion. He, like us, knows what it means to overwhelmed, and troubled, and discouraged. But like Him, it is important to remember that when we are faithful, if we do the work, God will be glorified. In those low moments, like the suffering servant, we are to renew our confidence in God, that our reward is not an earthly one, but a heavenly one; that through our trials, God is our strength; and in our sufferings, we will be glorified with Him, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
That God may be pleased to increase faith and understanding in the catechumens and candidates who approach the sacraments of initiation in the coming Paschal Solemnity.
That those in need may find assistance in the charity of faithful Christians and that peace and security may be firmly established in all places.
For strength to resist temptation, and the humility to sincerely repent of sin.
That through fasting and self-denial, we may be ever more conformed to Christ.
For all who have died, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, and for X. for whom this Mass is offered.
Mercifully hear, O Lord, the prayers of your Church and turn with compassion to the hearts that bow before you, that those you make sharers in your divine mystery may always benefit from your assistance.
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