A bruised reed he will not break. A smoldering wick, he will not quench until he brings justice to victory.

“Often we have little patience for the bruise reed,” says Father Jerry, “The perpetually lost, the slow to understand, the self-absorbed who never can see things from any perspective but their own. We can pretty quickly extinguish the small flicker of light that struggles to burn. The demands of keeping the home fires burning don’t give as much time to help the poor, the lost and the marginalized, to keep their own small candles lit.”

He adds, “In today’s Gospel, Matthew calls Jesus the fulfillment of Isaiah’s image of God’s servant, the anointed one that God raises up, to proclaim His justice and peace to all humankind. To follow Jesus is to embrace that same spirit of the servant of God.”