Readings (Click the links to see the readings)

Isaiah 11.1-10 | Ps 72.1-7 | Luke 10.21-24

Advent
Sr. Christine Schenk, CSJ

I wait
with quickened hope
for crooked paths
to straighten,
with tough-soul'd
anguish,
while blinded
keepers of the keys
shut out
God's own.
(If such a thing were possible.) I wait,
and will not be
dismayed.
For a tiny shoot
of Jesse tree
took root in me
to love
transform,
give sight
set free.
—National Catholic Reporter, 12 Dec. 2003.

Prayer

In this season of Advent, dear God,
for the sake of new life,
let me look ahead with courage and love.
Let me act not from fear, but from faith.
Out of my impatient nature,
may I do nothing to rush this birth,
but give it time for wholeness.
Grant me the patience to wait.
— In The Courtyard

Detail from the 'Tree of Jesse' window, dated 1145, Chartres Cathedral, France.

"A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. … On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious. " Isaiah 11.1-2,10.

Antiphon, O root of Jesse, chanted at Saint Meinrad Archabbey, Spencer County, Indiana.

O radix Jesse, qui stas in signum populorum, super quem continebunt reges os suum, quem gentes deprecabuntur: veni ad liberandum nos, jam noli tardare.

O Root of Jesse who stands as a sign for the peoples, whom kings will meet with silence, whom nations will entreat in prayer: come to set us free, delay no longer.
—English translation by Fr. Vincent Tobin, OSB. English setting adapted by Fr. Columba Kelly, OSB.