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Epiphany Season · Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time · Year A

Isaiah 49:14-15

Can a Mother Forget Her Infant? I Will Never Forget You

March 1, 2026

Virgin and Child, Circle of Leonardo da Vinci
Virgin and Child, Circle of Leonardo da Vinci, circa 1500The Cleveland Museum of Art (CC0)
A Milanese panel in Leonardo's manner, the child held close with the soft modelling and smoky shadow his followers copied from him.Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb?Circle of Leonardo da VinciAn unnamed Milanese painter working close to Leonardo, whose followers copied his modelling and his smoky shadow for decades.The Cleveland Museum of Art (CC0)A large encyclopaedic museum in Ohio, free to enter since it opened in 1916.The Cleveland Museum of Art (CC0)
Roman Lectionary
GospelMatt. 6:24-34Mt 6:24-34
Second Reading1 Cor. 4:1-51 Cor 4:1-5
First ReadingIsa. 49:14-15Is 49:14-15
Responsorial PsalmPs. 62:2-3, 6-7, 8-9Ps 62:2-3, 6-7, 8-9

Overview & Insights

"Even should she forget, I will never forget you." (Isaiah 49:15)

Zion voices the exiles' despair that the Lord has abandoned and forgotten her. God answers with the most tender image in the Servant Songs, a nursing mother, only to say that even if that bond somehow failed, his own commitment to his people would not.

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Take it further: Isaiah 49:14-15

Commentary

Commentary on Isaiah 49:8-16aCommentary on Is 49:8-16a Working Preacher

Luther Seminary commentary on the wider unit 49:8-16a, which carries the mother-and-child image of verses 14-15.

Isaiah 49:8-16 CommentaryIs 49:8-16 Commentary Center for Excellence in Preaching

Reformed preaching commentary on the surrounding unit's theme of a God who does not abandon an exiled people, the setting for verses 14-15.

Isaiah 49 CommentaryIs 49 Commentary Enduring Word · David Guzik

David Guzik's verse by verse reading of the chapter, including Zion's complaint and God's answer in verses 14-15.

Isaiah 49 CommentaryIs 49 Commentary Precept Austin

Deep verse by verse study notes gathering many conservative scholars on the mother-and-child image of these two verses.

Isaiah 49 - Barnes' NotesIs 49 - Barnes' Notes StudyLight

Barnes' Notes verse by verse on Zion's charge that the Lord has forgotten her, and God's reply.

The Eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A Catholic Productions · Brant Pitre

Dr. Brant Pitre's Catholic exegesis setting Isaiah's I will never forget you beside Psalm 62 and Jesus' teaching on anxiety.

Background & Word Study

Isaiah 49:15 InterlinearIs 49:15 Interlinear BibleHub

Hebrew word by word with parsing for the mother, the nursing child, and the Lord's refusal to forget.

Isaiah 49Is 49 Sefaria

Hebrew text alongside English for the chapter containing Zion's complaint and God's answer.

The Church Fathers

Isaiah 49 - Catena Bible & CommentariesIs 49 - Catena Bible & Commentaries Catena

Patristic comment on the chapter's promise that the Lord will not forget his people.

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