Is 63:16b—17; 64:1,3-8
Chapter 63
Why have you made us stray from your ways? Why have you made our hearts hard so that we do not fear you? Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your inheritance.
Chapter 64
As when fire sets brushwood ablaze and causes water to boil, make the nations know your name and your enemies tremble.
No one has ever heard or perceived, no eye has ever seen a God besides you who works for those who trust in him.
You have confounded those who acted righteously and who joyfully kept your ways in mind.
Confession of Sin and Supplication
But you are angry with our sins, yet conceal them, and we shall be saved.
All of us have become like the unclean; all our good deeds are like polluted garments; we have all withered like leaves, blown away by our iniquities.
No one calls upon your name, no one rouses himself to lay hold of you. For you have hidden your face; you have given us up to the power of our evil acts.
And yet, Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are the work of your hand.
Do not let your anger go too far, O Lord, or think of our sins forever. See, we all are your people!
Commentaries
Invocation to God the Father.
Although Abraham is considered the father of Israel (cf. Is 51:2), in times of exile, he cannot help them because he is a distant figure in his-tory (16). Only God is a present and redeeming father.
The People Ask for a Theophany.
A glorious manifestation of God, like the one the people had experienced at the foot of Mount Sinai (Ex 19:16-20), is evoked in the baptism of Jesus when the heavens opened (Mt 3:16; Mk 1:10; Lk 3:21).
Confession of Sin and Supplication.
Sin causes our lives to wither. If we do not call upon God, he remains silent, and we experience emptiness. The stubbornness of those who abandon God causes a break in the relationship: God hides his face (6). Only by recognizing God as Father and Creator do people dare to implore Him for restoration.