Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the ends of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travails with child together: a great company shall return there.
Read Chapter 31
George Leo Haydock
AD 1849
Together. All shall hasten, and there shall be no impediment, Isaias xxxv. 5.
The remnant of the people of Israel are gathered through the apostles and apostolic people, about whom we read above “guardians will call on the mountain” and to whom it was commanded to “sing and resound,” that the remnant of Israel might be saved. The Lord also promises that he will bring them down from the north country, he who is “the most severe wind but is called the right hand,” due to unbelief and the frigidity of his love. He also promises to gather them from the ends of the earth in no time other than the paschal solemnity, that is, in the days of the Lord’s passion, when the Lord was crucified and when the gospel promise was fulfilled: “When I am lifted up, I will draw everyone to me.” At that moment, he generated many people, fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy: “a people is born in one moment,” for on one day, three thousand and five thousand people believed. It is also written in Hebrew, “among whom were the blind, the lame, the pregnant and women in labor together, a great gath...
If the intention of the Lord were not fulfilled and if his wrath had not remained on the head of the wicked, the Lord of all could not be the God of the tribes of Israel. But he addressed this only to the remnant who were saved. And if the objection should be posed to us that he said, “I will be the God of the Israelite race” or “of all the tribes of Israel,” we would cite, “If you were children of Abraham, you would do the works of your father,” as well as the apostle, who wrote, “Consider Israel according to the flesh,” which implies that there is another Israel according to the Spirit. They are Israel, therefore, who discern God with the mind or who remain most steadfast in the Lord. In this way, Israel will be the people of God. - "Six Books on Jeremiah 6.11.1–2"
When Jeremiah says, “And I will gather them together from the extremities of the land in the feast day,” he signifies the day of the Passover and of Pentecost, which is properly a “feast day.” However, every day is the Lord’s. Every hour, every time, is apt for baptism. If there is a difference in the solemnity, there is no distinction in the grace. - "On Baptism 19"
