Mission of the Servant: “Light of salvation for humanity”
From chapter 49 onward, the prophet preferentially directs his gaze toward the future. The announced restoration will not consist of a simple return to the past. It will be a new creation. It will be the instrument of universal salvation; it will be someone docile to God and to His Word.
Who is this Servant? Israel as a people? Or rather a future figure, a Messiah who, through his merits, would obtain the final liberation of humanity?
In the Book of Numbers it is said that Moses had desired to see the day when all the people would be “a people of prophets to whom the Lord had given His Spirit.” This inspiration of the Spirit consists in experiencing that light which God offers to interpret the true meaning of what is happening: “That love story between God and His people—and within that love story all peoples are included. And that day arrived, and God fully revealed Himself through the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth.”
Today more than ever we need those PROPHETIC BEACONS that illuminate the horizon on a stormy day, in the midst of a turbulent ocean.
The Word of today, all of it, leads us to follow in the footsteps of that great Prophet of Nazareth, “the beloved Son of God,” the Chosen One, the Word made flesh, the Light that enlightens us from within and moves us to act with the best of ourselves. This is our time, this is our today—whatever our age may be, this is our hour.
God’s love for His people is communicated through you, through me, through all the people who make the world a better place.
“This is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world”—yes, of our violent and despairing world. May it be so! May we, Dominicans and Dominican women, be like our brother Montesinos, a prophet in his time and in his reality, a defender of human rights.
Prophets carry fraternal fire in their hearts and never cease in their self-giving, even to the point of giving their lives.
Today, this WORD is the balm that can heal so many wounds; it is the call for you and me to be: PROPHETS OF A NEW WORLD.
Sr. Mª del Mar Revuelta
Province Rosa Santaeugenia
