During the second week of Advent at Mount St. Scholastica, we chant the following invitatory at morning prayer:
The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him
In art, as in the stained glass windows in our choir chapel, the root of Jesse is usually depicted as a tree stump. I’m especially aware of tree stumps this year because I see so many of them on my daily walks, as we have had to cut down more than 30 dead trees on our grounds this fall.
It is sad to observe all these tree stumps when I consider the beauty of the trees that once stood there. Similarly, the people of Israel longed for the glory days of the son of Jesse, King David, who was a mighty warrior and provided an era of peace and prosperity for his people that was unmatched by his descendents.
Our tree stumps appear to be dead, just as Jesse’s line appeared to be weakened and decayed when his descendents failed to maintain the relationship with God that David enjoyed. However, a closer look shows that tree stumps are still connected through their roots to nearby trees, providing nutrients and adding stability to the soil. Similarly, Jesse’s line was not yet dead, for God raised Jesus from among Jesse’s descendents. Like David, Jesus had a special relationship with God, and the Spirit of the Lord rested upon him.
The second week of Advent gives us hope, then, that God can bring new life out of what appears to be dead, even the seemingly dead places within us. This new life comes from grafting ourselves onto the life of Christ, who invites us to feed from his rootedness in God and thus branch out into new life.
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