Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish

FR MICHAEL BOAKYE YEBOAH

CATHOLIC ARCHDIOCESE OF KUMASI

A SHOOT OF JESSE

            What does God do with our broken dreams? In our ministry as priests we encounter many people who are faced with extremely difficult life challenges, have given up on their dreams, and turned indifferent to God’s redemptive power. For some of them, their situations have not only turned them into deism or atheism but they have been abusive in their utterances to God. At times if care is not taken a priest may join in the frustration of the afflicted.

            The answer to the above question lies in the first verse of today’s first reading. The inspired writer wrote: “On that day, a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom.”

            Before we get to the “body” of our reflection, let us analyze this statement in Isaiah 11:1. When one gives up in life to the point of “no return,” his/her life can be described as a “stump.” What is a stump? It is the bottom part of a tree left projecting from the ground after most of the trunk has fallen or been cut down. And such was the situation of Israel when Isaiah was called to ministry. Israel’s situation could be described as a mighty tree that has been cut down.

            When a mighty tree falls and a stump is left, it can create depression in some life situations. The situation can be likened to a rich man who lived in a castle with all the goodies that come with castle living then from nowhere he loses everything and is left with living in an empty castle. Of what worth is castle living if the person cannot live as a king but as a beggar. If a stump is left after the mighty tree has fallen, there is no worth in it.

            In a normal situation, there cannot be any hope for that stump but God is the only person who re-creates from an impossible situation. To raise our hopes, the inspired writer directs our attention to the roots of the stump. Though the tree has fallen, the roots have not been uprooted. The tree maybe your family rich history of a family of wealth that does not exist again or the tree can be likened to a healthy life you once enjoyed. As important as the “tree” maybe, it is not the source of your life. The source of life for the stump is not the fallen tree but rather the roots that can give new life. And here our Catholic theology teaches us that our root is God. As good as one’s family history is, his/her true source of life is in God (his/her root). We may belong to a family all right but we all came from God – our true root.

            If our root is in God then even if our family mighty tree is cut off, our root in God has not been uprooted and once the root is there then there is hope for a new life. It is based on these firm roots that made the Prophet Isaiah to make the emphatic statement that “…a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse.”

            When Isaiah came into the scene there was nothing left of the house of Jesse. The house that had produced the greatest king in the history of Israel was a shadow of its former glory. What was left was just a stump of the mighty family tree of Jesse. The situation can be compared to the Wailing Wall left after the Romans destroyed the temple in AD 69/70. The whole situation could be sum-up in hopelessness. The interesting aspect of the story rests in the redemptive power of God. Since God is our root there cannot never be an impossible situation because with God all things are possible (cf. Phil. 4:13).

            The redemptive works of God lies in the word “a shoot.” Here a “shoot” is rendered as “a young branch or sucker springing from the main stock of a tree…” The “shoot” is theologically given as Jesus Christ who came from the house of David through his foster father Joseph. A “shoot” from a stump always presents freshness to the eye and that freshness was what the prophet promised the Israelites that God was about to give them. As good and hopeful that this message was, the substance of the message rested on the atmosphere that “shoot” was to create. Isaiah prophesized that the freshness from the “shoot” would affect all things.

            Apart from the message of justice that is evident in the prophet’s message; I am elated in the nature of peaceful co-existence that will prevail. The prophet saw the vision clearly when he said: “…then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them. The cow and the bear shall be neighbors, together their young shall rest; the lion shall eat hay like the ox. The baby shall play by the cobra’s den…” This prophetic message carries a figurative significance.

            One can deduce that the prophet presented two groups of creatures who live on extreme opposite sides but because of the effects of the redemptive love of Lord they will co-exist in peace. The pragmatic effect of this message should be felt in countries, communities and homes. In life things may divide us and at times make us relate with each other from extreme opposite sides, but if we have been redeemed by the Lord then we should allow his redemptive love that binds to glue us together in his love.

            Christmas can never be lived in friction, hatred and vengeance. We who live in opposite sides of life should embrace Christ’s love and reconcile with one another. Christ’s birthday cannot be celebrated in the atmosphere of hatred and so there is the need for preparation.

            The message of John the Baptist is therefore appropriate for this season. John cried out: “…prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.” In order to give the people the chance to renew their lives, John invited them into the baptismal waters. His invitation was well received to the extent that the Pharisees and Sadducees that the prophet himself described as “brood of vipers” also grasped the chance for renewal of life.

            “A shoot” always carries the nuance of freshness of life. Jesus the “shoot of Jesse” is always ready to offer that freshness of life to those who come to him. I pray that God’s message will refresh the lives of the ministers who preach God’s word and the people who hear them. OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP PRAY FOR US.