1st Reading – Isaiah 49:3, 5-6
The LORD said to me: You are my servant,
Israel, through whom I show my glory.
Now the LORD has spoken
who formed me as his servant from the womb,
that Jacob may be brought back to him
and Israel gathered to him;
and I am made glorious in the sight of the LORD,
and my God is now my strength!
It is too little, the LORD says, for you to be my servant,
to raise up the tribes of Jacob,
and restore the survivors of Israel;
I will make you a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.
Today’s first reading comes from what are known as the Servant Songs in the Book of Isaiah, a series of poetic passages that describe a mysterious servant chosen by God for a special mission. Last Sunday, we heard the first Servant Song, in which the servant is introduced and named as God’s chosen. Today we hear the second Servant Song, which expands that call: the servant is not sent only to gather Israel, but to become “a light to the nations,” bringing God’s salvation to the ends of the earth.
The LORD said to me: You are my servant, Israel, through whom I show my glory.
Although Christians recognize the ultimate fulfillment of the Servant Songs in Jesus Christ, the servant’s identity in Isaiah is quite mysterious. The explicit mention of Israel creates a difficulty for those who interpret the Servant as an individual, but that causes its own confusion because in the next verse, the servant will be called to gather Israel to himself. Somehow, the servant both represents Israel and acts on Israel’s behalf.
God declares that he will show his glory through the servant. The Hebrew verb pāʾar conveys the sense of being adorned or displayed with splendor. Rather than mere boasting, the emphasis is on God manifesting his saving power and faithfulness through the servant’s mission.
For now the LORD has spoken who formed me as his servant from the womb, that Jacob may be brought back to him and Israel gathered to him;
The language of being “formed from the womb” echoes prophetic call narratives, especially Jeremiah 1:5. While some have suggested the servant could be Isaiah himself, the scope of the mission ultimately exceeds that of any single prophet.
Because the servant’s identity remains elusive, the text directs our attention less to who the servant is and more to what the servant is sent to do.
and I am made glorious in the sight of the LORD, and my God is now my strength!
The servant’s glorification lies not in personal triumph but in the visible success of God’s saving work.
It is too little, he says, for you to be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and restore the survivors of Israel;
The reference to the tribes of Jacob recalls the twelve tribes descended from Jacob, who was later renamed Israel by God (Genesis 35:10). It was these tribes who settled the Promised Land after the exodus from Egypt.
The servant’s initial mission is the regathering and restoration of the survivors of Israel — an unmistakable reference to the Babylonian exile and its aftermath.
To grasp the hope offered in this passage, we must recall that in the Babylonian exile, Israel had lost its king, its land, and its temple — all of which were signs of God’s covenant presence. Even God’s promise to David of an enduring kingdom seemed called into question. Into this crisis of faith, Isaiah proclaims that God has not abandoned his people; instead, he is preparing to reveal his glory in a way far greater than they had imagined.
I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.
Here the servant’s mission expands dramatically. The restoration of Israel is not the final goal, but merely the starting point! God’s saving purpose is universal, fulfilling the promise made to Abraham in Genesis 12:3: All the peoples of the earth will be blessed through you.
It is striking that a people struggling to survive after military defeat and exile should be entrusted with a mission that includes even the nations responsible for their suffering. Yet this is precisely what “a light to the nations” suggests.
In light of Jesus’ passion, death, and resurrection, the Church recognizes that the Servant Songs — especially the ones that speak of suffering — possess a fullness of meaning that was not yet visible to Isaiah himself. These texts provided early Christians with the language and framework to understand the paradox of a suffering Messiah. Jesus is revealed as both the Servant and the Lamb of God, whose saving work extends to the whole world.
2nd Reading – 1 Corinthians 1:1-3
Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
and Sosthenes our brother,
to the church of God that is in Corinth,
to you who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be holy,
with all those everywhere who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Each year, in the early weeks of Ordinary Time between the Christmas season and Lent, the Church turns to Saint Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, moving through a different section of the letter in each year of the three-year lectionary cycle. This allows the community to return again and again to one of Paul’s most pastoral and challenging letters, hearing it from multiple angles over time.
1 Corinthians was written to a diverse and divided Christian community in the Greek city of Corinth, a prosperous and morally complex port city. The letter addresses real and pressing issues in the life of the early Church: divisions within the community, misunderstandings about Christian freedom, worship, leadership, morality, and the meaning of life in Christ. At its heart, the letter insists that the Church must be shaped not by worldly wisdom or status, but by the self-giving love revealed in the Cross.
Today we hear the opening greeting of the letter. Though brief, this introduction establishes the central themes of the letter: vocation, unity, and God’s initiative in forming a holy people — preparing us for the challenges and corrections Paul will address in the weeks ahead.
Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
Paul is establishing his credentials; he is an authentic apostle, like the twelve, by virtue of his divine call. The word “apostle” (apostolos) means one who is sent with the authority of the sender; in Paul’s case, that authority comes from the risen Christ himself.
and Sosthenes our brother,
This may or may not be the Sosthenes of Acts 18:17; regardless, he was a fellow Christian known to the Corinthians (“our brother”).
Naming a co‑sender might have been a way to subtly model the shared leadership and mutuality that the Corinthians lacked. Paul’s ministry is collaborative, not self‑promoting.
to the church of God that is in Corinth,
Paul uses the Greek term ekklesia (“assembly”) to describe the local church in Corinth. In the Septuagint, ekklesia translated the Hebrew qahal, the assembly of Israel called together by God, especially during the desert wanderings (Deuteronomy 23:2). By using this term, Paul situates the Corinthian community within the continuity of God’s gathered people.
Though this is a local church, it belongs to God and is inseparably united to the larger Church. The Christian community is already understood as universal, transcending geographic and cultural boundaries.
to you who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus,
The sanctification language throughout Paul’s letters consistently points to baptism, through which believers are joined to Christ, given a new identity, and set apart for God.
This does not mean that Paul regarded the Corinthians as morally perfect — the rest of the letter proves the opposite. Rather, he is reminding them of their identity: people claimed by Christ, consecrated to God, and bound together with all who call upon the Lord.
Paul’s entire letter unfolds from this foundation.
called to be holy,
Because Christians belong to Christ and form his Body, they share in the vocation to holiness.
This echoes Israel’s call to be a holy nation (Exodus 19:6; 1 Peter 2:9).
with all those everywhere who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.
Paul again widens the horizon beyond Corinth, reminding them that they are part of a much larger body of believers who confess the same Lord.
This anticipates Paul’s later corrections regarding division and rivalry, gently calling the Corinthians to humility and unity.
Grace to you and peace
Paul blends the typical Greek greeting of charis (“grace, favor, generosity”) with the Jewish greeting shālôm (“peace, wholeness, all good things”).
By joining these two formulas, Paul signals that the Church is a single community made from Jew and Gentile together, and that the blessings of the gospel transcend cultural boundaries.
from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul names the source of this grace and peace: God the Father and Jesus Christ, who shares the Father’s authority and pours out the Father’s gifts.
This closing line of the greeting is itself an act of worship and a declaration of faith.
Gospel – John 1:29-34
John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said,
“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
He is the one of whom I said,
‘A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me
because he existed before me.’
I did not know him,
but the reason why I came baptizing with water
was that he might be made known to Israel.”
John testified further, saying,
“I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from heaven
and remain upon him.
I did not know him,
but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me,
‘On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain,
he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’
Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.”
Every year, the Church begins Ordinary Time with a passage from John’s Gospel that reveals who Jesus is. Since Ordinary Time is the season in which the Church reflects on the daily shape of Christian life and discipleship, it is fitting that it begins by fixing our attention on Jesus’ identity — the essential starting point for following him.
In today’s reading, John does not narrate Jesus’ baptism but bears witness to its meaning, identifying Jesus as the Lamb of God and the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. The evangelist likely assumes that his readers already know the synoptic baptism accounts, which were written earlier. Instead of retelling the scene, he presents John the Baptist recalling the event and interpreting it for us, inviting us to recognize who Jesus truly is and to begin Ordinary Time with renewed clarity about the One we are called to follow.
John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
Catholics recognize this verse from the Communion Rite. At every Mass, the priest repeats the Baptist’s proclamation, confirming our faith in Christ’s presence in the Holy Eucharist.
John is the only gospel writer who refers to Jesus as “the Lamb of God.” While the background for this title may also be the Passover (Paschal) lamb, whose blood saved Israel (Exodus 12), the statement that he “takes away the sin of the world” favors the primary interpretation of the Lamb of God as the Servant of the Lord, who was led like a lamb to the slaughter as a sin offering (Isaiah 53:7-10).
It’s possible that Saint John intended both meanings (Paschal lamb and Isaian servant). In Jesus, both images converge: he is the sacrificial Lamb who liberates and redeems
He is the one of whom I said, ‘A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.’
Although John the Baptist was born several months before Jesus (Luke 1:26, 36), he declares that Jesus “existed before” him. This paradox — someone who comes after him yet ranks before him — is intentional and theological. John is distinguishing between his own historical role and Jesus’ divine identity.
Jesus is the pre‑existent Word made flesh, the One who was with God in the beginning (John 1:1-5). John’s testimony therefore affirms both Jesus’ true humanity — born in time — and his divine identity, which precedes all creation.
Some Jewish traditions spoke of the Messiah as existing with God from the beginning, or as foreordained before creation (cf. Micah 5:2; Psalm 110:3). John’s witness resonates with these expectations, while the Gospel reveals their fuller meaning in the eternal Word.
I did not know him, but the reason why I came baptizing with water was that he might be made known to Israel.”
This doesn’t necessarily mean John had never met Jesus — they were cousins, after all (Luke 1:36) — but that he did not yet know Jesus’ true identity as the Messiah.
His entire ministry of baptizing was ordered toward preparing Israel for the Messiah’s appearance, yet John himself could only recognize the Messiah through divine revelation.
John testified further, saying, “I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from the sky and remain upon him.
This testimony confirms that the descent of the dove at Jesus’ baptism was a real, objective event. The Spirit’s descent “remaining” on Jesus fulfills Isaiah’s prophecy of the Spirit resting upon the Messiah (Isaiah 11:2; 42:1).
At this point in salvation history, the full Christian understanding of the Holy Spirit as a divine Person had not yet been revealed. John the Baptist would have understood the Spirit in the Old Testament sense — God’s life‑giving power active in creation (Genesis 8:8) and in Israel (Hosea 11:11). Yet in his gospel, Saint John presents this moment as a Trinitarian revelation: the Son is manifested, the Spirit descends, and the Father speaks.
Jesus was never without the Holy Spirit, but the baptism makes visible what is always true: his eternal communion with the Father and the Spirit. A similar glimpse is granted at the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor, before the Passion.
These mysteries strengthen our confidence that our own union with the Trinity through sanctifying grace is real and enduring, even when it is not perceptible to our senses.
I did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain, he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’
John repeats that he “did not know” Jesus as the Messiah until God revealed it. This underscores both Jesus’ true humanity — his ordinariness — and the divine initiative in making him known. John recognizes Jesus not through human insight but through the sign God promised.
Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.”
John’s Gospel places on the Baptist’s lips the full Christian confession: Jesus is the Son of God. Historically, it’s unlikely that John the Baptist articulated this title with the clarity the evangelist gives him here. But the Gospel faithfully expresses the theological truth that John’s mission was to bear witness to Jesus’ divine identity. The evangelist presents John’s testimony in its fullest light, so that we may share the faith the Church now professes.
Connections and Themes
Ordinary Time. The liturgical season of Ordinary Time is not “ordinary” in the sense of being unimportant or routine; the word comes from ordinal, meaning counted or ordered time. It is the season in which the Church steadily unfolds the mystery of Christ’s life and mission, Sunday by Sunday. Ordinary Time begins after the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, when the great events of the Christmas season give way to the quiet work of recognition, discipleship, and growth.
Today’s readings gently draw us into this rhythm. Isaiah speaks of a servant formed in the hiddenness of the womb and called to be a light to the nations. Paul addresses an imperfect community already sanctified by God’s grace and called to live out that gift over time. In the gospel reading, there is no dramatic miracle — only John the Baptist’s steady witness, pointing away from himself toward Jesus. Together, these readings show us what Ordinary Time is for: learning to recognize God’s saving work as it unfolds gradually, often quietly, in the midst of daily lives, faithful witness, and patient obedience.
A man of history. Ours is a historical religion. It unfolds within the joys and disappointments of time and place and is rooted in events that occurred in the lives of real people. The Christ to whom we commit ourselves is not a mythical figure or a product of religious imagination. He was born into history, at a particular moment, in a specific place. He was known by witnesses like John the Baptist; he submitted himself to historical rituals such as baptism; he gathered followers who testified to the truth of both his life and his identity. Jesus was — and remains — a man of history.
Because God chose to act within human history, our own lives become the place where salvation continues to unfold. Holiness is not confined to extraordinary moments but emerges through calling, recognition, and response within the circumstances we are given. The God who entered history in Jesus Christ continues to meet us there still.
Witness reveals identity. Before anyone can follow Jesus, they must first recognize who he truly is. Discipleship begins not with action, but with revelation—with seeing and naming the truth of the one who stands before us. That is why witness is so central to today’s readings.
Isaiah speaks clearly about the servant’s identity and mission. Paul reminds the Corinthians who they already are by God’s call before addressing how they are to live. In the Gospel, John the Baptist does not promote himself or issue instructions; he points and testifies: Behold, the Lamb of God. Identity precedes response. Only when Jesus is recognized can true discipleship begin— and only then can our own lives bear credible witness to him.
Sunday Readings 