Continuing our Advent journey, we are presented with some beautiful imagery from the prophet Isaiah. Have you ever seen a stump turn into a flourishing tree? No. And this is the image that the prophet Isaiah provides for us: not a flourishing tree, but a stump. Yet God’s saving work often begins where we think there is never a chance.
This stump of life, flourishing from where life is not supposed to flourish, can be seen in the immaculate and virginal conception of Jesus in the womb of Mary. For without human agency He is conceived therein and will be born unto us—a tree that flourishes from what seemingly should be a stump. “Nothing will be impossible for God.” That is the message of the Archangel Gabriel to our Blessed Mother.
Isaiah goes on to describe how this Messiah promised by God will be Spirit-filled, and he lists the sevenfold gifts of the Spirit which will rest upon Him. “Not by appearance shall he judge, nor by hearsay shall he decide,” says Isaiah—a direct challenge to superficial judgments, prejudices, and power-based decisions that we often see prevalent in our own judicial systems and governments around the world. True authority flows from listening to God, not from managing impressions or securing our own future or advancing our careers, but from loyalty and fidelity to God alone.
The Messiah judges on behalf of the poor and the afflicted. This prepares us for Jesus’ own ministry, where compassion and truth are held together without compromise.
In the Gospel, Jesus speaks about His intimacy with the Father. “No one knows who the Son is except the Father.” We know the Father has revealed Himself only because the Son chooses to draw us into His own life. And then Jesus says, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see.” The disciples stand at the fulfilment of centuries of longing. What the prophets dreamed of, they encountered in person—and so did every Jewish person two thousand years ago.
Advent invites us to recognize how privileged we are, and how easily familiarity can dull our sense of wonder at the many graces we have been given through the Church that Christ left us: the forgiveness of sins in the confessional, new birth in baptism, the lifelong journey of holy matrimony, the total gift of self in holy orders, and the food for the journey that strengthens us here and now while opening the gates of heaven. “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood will live forever.”
So many gifts have been given to us. Where is our wonder, our gratitude, our reverence toward the goodness and wisdom of God’s plan?
Advent, therefore, should draw us back to the childlike trust that Jesus speaks of in today’s Gospel: “I thank you, Father, for having concealed these things from the wise and the learned and revealed them to little ones.” As we continue with the Mass today, let us ask the Lord to give us a childlike spirit—one that trusts and entrusts itself to the care of its parents—so that we too may entrust ourselves to the care of God, our Blessed Mother, the angels, and the saints.
And like a child who is filled with excitement and wonder at all the beautiful things encountered throughout life, may we continually marvel at the goodness that God daily reveals to us. May we open our eyes, our hearts, and our ears to receive those gifts that the world so often ignores.
May God bless you, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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