 |
| “Tree of Jesse” by Jan Mostaert, c. 1500 |
(John of Damascus, Presbyter, Religious,
Doctor of the Church)
Reading 1: Isaiah 11:1-10
But a shoot shall sprout from
the stump of Jesse,
and from his roots a bud
shall blossom.
The Spirit of the LORD shall
rest upon him:
a Spirit of wisdom and of
understanding,
A Spirit of counsel and of
strength,
a Spirit of knowledge and of
fear of the LORD,
and his delight shall be the
fear of the LORD.
Not by appearance shall he
judge,
nor by hearsay shall he
decide,
But he shall judge the poor
with justice,
and decide aright for the
land’s afflicted.
He shall strike the ruthless
with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips
he shall slay the wicked.
Justice shall be the band
around his waist,
and faithfulness a belt upon
his hips.
Then the wolf shall be a
guest of the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie
down with the kid;
The calf and the young lion
shall browse together,
with a little child to guide
them.
The cow and the bear shall be
neighbors,
together their young shall
rest;
the lion shall eat hay like
the ox.
The baby shall play by the
cobra’s den,
and the child lay his hand on
the adder’s lair.
There shall be no harm or
ruin on all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be filled
with knowledge of the LORD,
as water covers the sea.
On that day,
The root of Jesse,
set up as a signal for the
nations,
The Gentiles shall seek out,
for his dwelling shall be
glorious.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Is 11:1-10
Isaiah predicts
that the line of David will produce the Messiah with the first verse; “stump of Jesse”, Kind David’s father.
The stump refers to the line of David being cut back during the Babylonian
Exile. He follows with, for the first time in scripture, the seven gifts of the
Holy Spirit[4] (note also, the reference
to fullness, in Hebrew numerology the number “7” is the perfect number.). In
the Septuagint and the Vulgate the word "piety" is coupled with “fear of the Lord”.
The description
of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is followed with a list of the just and
compassionate characteristics of the messianic rule and then a picture of
universal peace under the messiah’s rule. . Isaiah sees the return of the
messianic King, predicting that the messiah will come from King David’s line
and will ultimately bring great peace. The term used “…on all my holy mountain;” indicates this peace is for all the
faithful, not just those in Jerusalem
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm
72:1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17
R. (see 7) Justice shall flourish in his time, and
fullness of peace for ever.
O God, with your judgment
endow the king,
and with your justice, the king’s
son;
He shall govern your people
with justice
and your afflicted ones with
judgment.
R. Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of
peace for ever.
Justice shall flower in his
days,
and profound peace, till the
moon be no more.
May he rule from sea to sea,
and from the River to the
ends of the earth.
R. Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of
peace for ever.
He shall rescue the poor when
he cries out,
and the afflicted when he has
no one to help him.
He shall have pity for the lowly
and the poor;
the lives of the poor he
shall save.
R. Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of
peace for ever.
May his name be blessed
forever;
as long as the sun his name
shall remain.
In him shall all the tribes
of the earth be blessed;
all the nations shall
proclaim his happiness.
R. Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of
peace for ever.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 72:1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17
This Royal Psalm extols the virtuous
characteristics of justice and compassion. In this selection we hear an echo of the
justice and peace of the King’s rule that is reiterated in Isaiah’s prophecy (Isaiah
11:1-10).
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gospel: Luke 10:21-24
At that very moment he
(Jesus) rejoiced (in) the holy Spirit and
“I give you praise, Father,
Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden
these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to the
childlike.
Yes, Father, such has been
your gracious will.
All things have been handed
over to me by my Father.
No one knows who the Son is
except the Father,
and who the Father is except
the Son
and anyone to whom the Son
wishes to reveal him.”
Turning to the disciples in
private he said,
“Blessed are the eyes that
see what you see.
For I say to you,
many prophets and kings
desired to see what you see,
but did not see it,
and to hear what you hear,
but did not hear it.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Lk 10:21-24
Jesus rejoices in the Holy Spirit
because his disciples have understood his role of Messiah in the kingdom. He
restates his relationship as Son of God (“No
one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the
Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.") The
inference here is that we must approach that faith with “childlike” faith and
trust in order to achieve that level of understanding.
Earlier
in this chapter of St. Luke’s Gospel, Jesus sent out the seventy (two). Just prior
to this selection, they returned and reported great success in doing what the
Lord asked of them. This passage is his
prayer of thanks to the Father The Lord gives thanks that God has seen fit to
reveal his identity and pass on his power to these disciples of his. It is
reiterated that the Kingdom of God shall be revealed to the childlike (see also
Luke 8:10) and turning to his disciples, he tells them that the victory they are
witnessing is the Good News hoped for by prophets and kings throughout history.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
The scripture today reveals the role of “Messiah”
that will result from the Nativity we anticipate in this, our Advent Season. We
see Isaiah predict his lineage once more; the Lord comes from the line of
David, whose kingdom ended in 971 BC. He is the Stump of Jesse’s Tree, Jesse
being the father of King David. Isaiah gives us today the seven gifts of the
Holy Spirit that created in Christ the perfect king and gifts to which we
aspire.
In our Gospel, the Lord speaks through St. Luke
telling us that; “Blessed
are the eyes that see what you see.” He has revealed himself to us
through his Father’s will that sends him. In childlike faith we are called to
accept him; to receive him. This is the lampstand that holds up the candle of
hope in our Advent Wreath.
We pause to consider what God has done for us in
Christ to bring us such hope. Through
all the generations of the faithful who have gone before us we were called to
be God’s adopted children. In our Baptism
that adoption was accomplished and our birth-right secured. As the baptismal bath cleansed us, the Holy
Spirit was infused, changing us forever, giving us those seven gifts (which we
all had to memorize at our Confirmation where we were “Sealed with the gift of
the Holy Spirit”).
Those
gifts; wisdom, understanding, counsel,
fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord open our hearts to hear God’s
word and our minds to accept his message – good tidings to all mankind
(reiterated in Isaiah – “The root of
Jesse, set up as a signal for the nations, the Gentiles shall seek out, for his
dwelling shall be glorious.”).
Today once more we give
thanks to God for all of his gifts to us; but most especially for the gifts of
the Holy Spirit. We ask for strength to
act as God’s adopted children are expected.
We especially ask that hope in the Lord be given to the hopeless, those
who do not understand the love of Christ and the salvation he offers must
indeed feel hopeless in the shadow of death undefeated.
Pax
[2]
The picture used today is “Tree of Jesse” by Jan Mostaert, c. 1500
[3]
The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the
Psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for
English in Liturgy (ICEL). This re-publication is not authorized by USCCB and
is for private use only.
[4]
From the Catechism of the Catholic
Church, paragraph 1831 “The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom,
understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. They
belong in their fullness to Christ, Son of David. They complete and perfect the
virtues of those who receive them. They make the faithful docile in readily
obeying divine inspirations. “Let your
good spirit lead me on a level path.( Psalm 143:10) For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God . . . If
children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.”( Romans
8:14,17.)
No comments:
Post a Comment