19th December: O Root of Jesse
O Root of Jesse, standing as a sign among the peoples;
before you kings will shut their mouths,
to you the nations will make their prayer:
Come and deliver us, and delay no longer.
Based on Isaiah 11:1, Isaiah 11:10, the title Root of Jesse, refers to the promise of the Lord to raise the Messiah from the line of David (the son of Jesse). It is a promise of deliverance that the Lord gives the people of Israel, and to everyone who believes in the Lord.
The Symbol is that of the shoot flowering... signalling the hope that the Lord offers in times when everything seems dark and dead. Look at the exodus event, the miracles in the desert, the water from the rock, the guidance by day and night - everyone of these was a sign of God's promises being fulfilled. The final fulfillment and the pinnacle of everything was - Incarnation, that which we are preparing to celebrate.
Promises of the Lord will never fail... it may look like it, but things will change. There may be enemies plotting around, there may be situations that go out of control and there may be evil all around me - I will give up and compromise when I think there is no hope. But when here is hope, when I stand on the promises of the Lord, I will never give up!
The prayer today is to reinforce that HOPE... that we may always look forward to the deliverance that the Lord can offer! Note that the readings of the liturgy too relate to the same sense of hope in the Lord who accomplishes marvels for us! Let us never let anyone rob us of our hope, reminds us often, our Holy Father.
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