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Tuesday 1st Week of Advent
The Institute
December 1, 2015
OF SHOOTS
AND TREES ++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ø
Dead of winter
trees’ fingers stretch skyward w/o signs of life
Ø
But experience
tells us that all is not dead
Ø
“A shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse,” asserts our 1st reading, no ifs,
&s or buts about it
Ø
It shall
happen
Ø
So if
experience fails to persuade us, then faith surely should
THE
REDWOOD TREE ++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ø
Consider the
redwood tree
Ø
When only a
stump remains, the tree can nevertheless regenerate
Ø
Little sprouts
shoot up from the buds of ancient, invisible roots and actually form a circle
surrounding the old stump
Ø
This is called
a “cathedral circle” and the survival
of some of the buds guarantees that the redwoods do not die
Ø
Interestingly,
buds never survive w/o fog rolling in from Pacific
Ø
The fog itself
– often perceived as a nuisance – carries the potential for future revival and
new growth
THE ROMAN
CHURCH +++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ø
Not very long
ago, many Christians felt that their hopes for the Church had been felled like
a giant redwood tree
Ø
Then Pope
Francis seemed to appear from nowhere, not for the center, but from the far
margins
Ø
And like the
bud of a redwood tree he brought new life and promise
Ø
The promise of
Isaiah 4 Ch as a whole and for all of us as individuals.
CONCLUSION
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ø
Even if R hopes
R felled & fog seems 2 block sun’s light, today’s rdgs offer us God’s word
or promise: to console, affirm, and motivate us
Ø
Just as winter
will surrender to spring
Ø
Just as
moribund redwood trees will rise again
Ø
So too a shoot
shall sprout from stump of Jesse
Ø
And hope will
come again with the sunrise – and the Son Rise – that is the Incarnation!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
