(Please read the Scripture passage before reading the homily.)
This Passage is from the first of four Servant Songs in Isaiah. Sometimes the servant seems to be a person, sometimes the whole nation. These songs come from the period of the Exile.
An exiled people groans and aches for home, much as a people under attack, such as the people of Ukraine, groan and weep in their plight.
God had formed the people of Israel. God has formed the people of Ukraine. God has formed us. This God of formation called the people of Israel out of darkness to be the light to the nations. He will comfort the people of Ukraine. He will stand by us in our sorrows, distress, and pain.
God has created so that things can have life. We are created so that we have life. God did not make us for death, but for life. The God who called Israel into life called them back to life and restored for them their homeland. How God will do this for the people of Ukraine, we do not know, but God has unique ways of keeping promises. God will keep the promises made to us.
We do not know the name of the Servant of the Lord. We cannot always tell whether the prophet was speaking of an individual or of the whole group as one, but we must receive the word of God as God’s own servant. God remains faithful to the promises God has made.
God’s word calls us to be faithful servants of the Lord. God will remain faithful to those who are servants of the Lord.