Fr Paul Gooley reads from the Gospel of Matthew (12: 14-21) in which Jesus fulfills what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “Here is my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved, the favourite of my soul; I will endow him with my Spirit, and he will proclaim the true faith to the nations…”.

Fr Paul says Matthew, after stressing the authority of Jesus, fills out the picture of Jesus by a long quotation, the longest of all his Old Testament quotations; it is from Isaiah about the Servant of the Lord. This is typical of Matthew, who draws on the Old Testament so frequently to explain the person and the mission of Jesus. Here the quotation concentrates on three points:

1. The beloved Servant is especially close to God as his Son.
2. The Servant’s mission is a gentle mission of healing.
3. The mission is not only to the Jews but will bring hope, also, to the Gentiles.

Fr Paul says these three points give us three things to reflect on in our own lives:

1. How close to God am I?
2. How do I bring healing to others and to myself?
3. How do I spread the message of Jesus to everyone?