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AND THEN they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, look up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. [Lk 21:27-28]

Artist: Victor Luciano Rebuffo

(1903 - 1983)

Buenos Aires, Argentina

"RIGHTEOUS BRANCH" [1]

WILL THEY CONSENT?

1. "Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land." [Jer 23:5] God announces his sovereignty over mankind in your hearing. He signals his intention to intervene decisively in the realm of human affairs.^[2] By the power of his word, the Lord anoints his chosen people as a community of advent.

2. God, fulfilling his promise to Israel and Judah, will raise up a righteous branch. The righteous branch symbolizes the revelation of Our Lord Jesus Christ as the true vine. [cf. Jn 15:1] Consenting to be God's incarnate instrument of justice, the Son of Man heals the sick and forgives sin. He speaks and acts with righteousness. The people rejoice that God's fertile promise of deliverance has taken firm root in their land. Will they cleave to Christ as branches adhere to the vine? Will they consent to bear more fruit? [cf. Jn 15:1-10]

TANGLED THICKET

3. Though the world's hope was to be severed at the root with the destruction of David's kingdom (587 B.C.), Jeremiah prophesies the emergence of a tender shoot seeking a place in the tangled thicket of man's affairs. Jesus, a descendant of David, enters into human history as the righteous branch on the severed trunk of ancient Judah's royal family. The Kingdom which Jesus reveals, however, is not the military-political hegemony of old. Rather, Our Lord inaugurates his Father's realm, a dominion of truth and goodness.

4. We would do well to remember that, as quickly as the cedars of Lebanon vanished, the effects of political and military conquests are exhausted as well.^[3] Our Lord has no intention of trying to resurrect human history, nor does he desire to search among the ruins of palaces and monuments for his inheritance. In the depths of his being, Jesus understands that the real legacy of David's kingdom is its singular, irrevocable covenant with the one, true God. Not for temporal glory is the ancient monarchy to be remembered, but rather in the peoples unique and living relationship with the Most High God.

LIVING WILL

5. In the prophetic truth of Israel's religious and philosophical writings was preserved the heritage on which Jesus chose to build. Understand then that the covenant David made with God is a living legacy par excellence. David's true patrimony--far from being one of power and conquest--was actually his covenant with God. This covenant, do you see, was David's assurance that God's blessings would remain in existence the whole of his life. For his part, David entered into the service of his God. The king's most important role, therefore, was that of servant--in service to God's glory.

6. The proclamation of the Davidic kingdom's "living will" was accomplished by Jesus in Nazareth at the start of his ministry. As was his custom on the Sabbath, Jesus stood up to read. From the scroll of Isaiah which had been given him, he proclaims:

THE SPIRIT of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. [Lk 4:18-19]

Upon finishing, Jesus sits down. Everyone stares him. Very quietly, the Lord Jesus announces: "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." [Lk 4:21]

HOW FRAGILE THE THINGS THAT MATTER!

7. A revolution is begun. A kingdom is born. How fragile are the things that matter! How often love hangs by a thread! When confidence has withered and almost died. When you were thrown aside and your only support was the truth itself. When the only possession in your soul was God's apparent absence. How fragile are the things that matter! The beating of a baby's heart in its mother's womb. The birth of an infant. The bud of the flower, a sheaf of wheat, a sprout of new corn, the shoot of an evergreen. The planting of truth and goodness in the human heart. The husbandry of God's vineyard. Our Lord on the cross.^[4] How fragile are the things that matter!

8. God uses fragility and contradiction to reveal his glory. Speaking through the prophet Isaiah, the Lord declares: "I will put in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive; I will set in the desert the cypress, the plane and the pine together." [Isa 41:19] The two most intriguing words in the Jeremiah passage are righteous branch. Why did the prophet speak of a fragile green sprig? Why not describe a mighty cypress or cedar of Lebanon? Something already sprung full-grown? What tree or plant would Jeremiah have had in mind? Which one would have conveyed most effectively the richest meanings of prophetic imagery?

UNCOMMON LINEAGE

9. Perhaps Jeremiah thought of the olive tree when he prophesied that a righteous branch would spring forth the tree of David. From the time Noah received an olive branch from the dove [cf. Gen 8:11], the olive--like the ark--has been a sign of hope, reconciliation, peace and new life. Olive trees grow slowly, and some are over 2,000 years old. These ancient trees sprout new shoots from gnarled, old paternal trunks. The remarkable olive tree, essential in the life of ancient Palestine, provided shade, fuel, food, healing ointments and medicines. Certainly the olive tree stands as a superb symbol for the regeneration and renewal of God's chosen people.^[5]

10. Quite possible, however, was Jeremiah's fondness for another tree rather than the olive. One of the most beautiful plants in Palestine is the myrtle. Often mistaken for a tree, this plant is actually an evergreen shrub which grows to a height of about fifteen feet. The myrtle's fragrant white blooms beautifully adorn its shiny green leaves and dense bushy foliage. Each flower can produce one sweetish, blue-black berry. The Latin name for this familiar and far-ranging Mediterranean shrub is myrtus communis, the common myrtle. It is propagated easily from tender little shoots. The common myrtle, however, possesses an uncommon lineage. The Hebrew word for myrtle is hadas.

VICTORY AND RECONCILIATION

11. The feminine form is Hadassah, the original name of the beautiful Queen Esther who, in ancient times, saved her people from being destroyed by the Persian king Xerxes.^[6] This attractive tree was used for making booths during Jewish religious festivals. [cf. Neh 8:14-15] Thus, the myrtle is revered as a sign of love, beauty and devotion. Even today it is used in bridal bouquets. In the time of Jesus, it was customary for generals to be awarded a myrtle-wreath if they were victorious without bloodshed. Roman and Sabine generals symbolized their reconciliation by placing their weaponry beside the myrtle tree.^[7]

12. Myrtle leaves and berries were a source of flavoring for food and wine. A mother combined myrtle and olive oil to anoint and protect her baby's fragile skin. The bark of the tree was used for tanning leather. Understandably, the Gospel message survives in human time like a strong, old olive tree, putting forth new growth in every generation. God's love and beauty are ever green, like the enduring myrtle which symbolizes the unity of past, present and future in Christ. Isaiah highlights the myrtle in a way that illustrates God's perpetual covenant with his chosen people: "...instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial, for an everlasting sign which shall not be cut off". [Isa 55:13]

YOU, TOO, CAN FLOWER

13. The God of Isaiah and Jeremiah speaks to you now, calling mankind to trust that he is the eternal origin of absolute truth and goodness. The power of his love will conquer the world without violence, without bloodshed. In these days, in this time, the God of Our Lord Jesus Christ summons you to lift your eyes from the conspicuous and often difficult present to gaze confidently into the spiritual future. You who love him should heed carefully his timeless word, that you may build on what you have accomplished. Pray constantly. [cf. 1Thess 5:17] In the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, you rejoice that "Christ has died, Christ is risen and that Christ will come again".^[8]

14. Christ, the first fruits of the resurrection of the dead, promises that you are heirs to the uncommon lineage of divine love. You, too, can flower like the olive and the myrtle. A carefully calculated moment of opportunity has overtaken us. The Father, whom Christ calls the vinedresser [cf. Jn 151] seeks your conversion in this privileged season of advent. Allow him to remove that which has died or is bringing death into your life. Submit to his loving husbandry that the just shoot of holiness within you may bear fruit. You will glorify the Father if you prove your faithful discipleship by fruitful words and deeds. For apart from Christ, the fulfillment of legitimate human aspirations is impossible.

^[1] Cycle C /First Sunday of Advent /Jer 33:14-16 /1Thess 3:12-4:2 /Lk 21:25-28, 34-36.

^[2] Cf Xavier Lon-Dufour, DICTIONARY OF BIBLICAL THEOLOGY (New York: Seabury Press, 1973) 110. "The believer does not see history as continually making a new beginning; rather it is a progression which the visitations of God divide into seasons, days, hours, and privileged moments. The Lord has come; He does not cease to come; and He will come to judge the world and to save the faithful. In this total view of history, the day of the Lord is a special expression used to designate God's solemn intervention in the course of history." Sacred Scripture refers to comprehensive divine intervention as the day of the Lord. [Cf Isa 13:9-13, 1Thess 5:1-3]

^[3] It is axiomatic that ideas outlast things, libraries endure longer than cities, and that the soul of a people is mirrored in the enduring corpus of its literature. Long after a nation dissolves, its religious and philosophical achievements subsist in the world's consciousness.

^[4] "...though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross." [Phi 2:6-8]

^[5] Cf Wilma Paterson, A FOUNTAIN OF GARDENS Plants and Herbs of the Bible (Edinburgh: Mainstream, 1990) 110.

^[6] Cf ibid., 102.

^[7] Cf ibid.

^[8] SACRAMENTARY, Memorial Acclamation (1985).