Renewed House of David

My Dear Parishioners,

I consider myself very blessed to be spending our Second Advent together. I am looking forward to our second Christmas together. We have such a beautiful parish.

This is also our second Christmas Bazaar and Pancake Breakfast together. I thank all of those who have helped to make the Bazaar and Breakfast happen. I also thank all of you who support the Bazaar. Events like the Bazaar are so much more than fundraisers. They are “community builders.” They are an opportunity for people to come together and get to know each other and form a stronger bond. That is the real importance of the Bazaar and so much else we do here.

Our fellowship will continue this coming Friday, December 12, with our second annual Christmas Concert. Looking forward to seeing you there.

This weekend our first reading is one of the best known and most loved readings from the Old Testament:

On that day, a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom. The spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him: a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a spirit of counsel and of strength, a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the LORD, and his delight shall be the fear of the LORD. Not by appearance shall he judge, nor by hearsay shall he decide, but he shall judge the poor with justice, and decide aright for the lands afflicted. He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked. Justice shall be the band around his waist, and faithfulness a belt upon his hips.

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, and the child lay his hand on the adder’s lair. There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the LORD, as water covers the sea. On that day, the root of Jesse, set up as a signal for the nations, the Gentiles shall seek out, for his dwelling shall be glorious.

Let us examine this passage in greater detail.

Isaiah says: “A shoot shall come forth from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom.” The “shoot of Jesse” invokes the image of an olive tree. When the main trunk of the olive tree grows old, it fruit. It is then that shoots sprout from the roots, and those sprouts then start producing new fruit.

Isaiah’s prophecy is a prophecy about a renewed House of David, that had grown old and had ceased to produce good fruit.

For us, we see the prophecy fulfilled in the coming of Jesus into our world. From the fallen house of David, from what seemed cut down and lifeless, springs forth the One who is Life Himself.

The Saints of old understood the “shoot” as our Blessed Mother Mary, from whom is born Jesus, the Christ. The blossom is Jesus Himself — hidden at first, tender in His birth, mighty in His reign, who would wilt and die on the tree of the Holy Cross, producing the beautiful seeds of Resurrection, the new life of Grace, love, mercy, and forgiveness.

Jesus is so much more than a decedent of David but a “new” King David, superior in all things to the King David of old. His Kingdom is so much more than a restoration of King David’s realm, but the establishment of a whole new Kingdom that we call the Church.

The next verses about the gifts of the Holy Spirit make allusions to King Solomon. King Solomon had asked for a special gift of wisdom. Jesus, the “new David,” also surpasses David’s son King Solomon because the Holy Spirit rests upon Him in fullness. These are not gifts given in measure, as in the case of King Solomon, but part of Jesus’s Divine Nature. The fact that the Holy Spirit rests on Jesus in fullness is because Jesus is the Incarnate Son of God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, completely free from sin.

The “fear of the Lord” that Jesus’s possesses is not some type of personal fear of His Heavenly Father. That thought would be impossible and ridiculous. Any thought of this is ridiculous because Jesus Himself said that He is in the Father and the Father is in Him. Jesus’s possession of fear of the Lord has to do us. His fear would be that we would say no to Him which then, in effect, is to say no to His Heavenly Father.

Isaiah then prophesizes that the new David will judge justly. Jesus judges not by appearances, nor by the sound of words, but by the truth that pierces the heart. He knows our sins, so we do not have to hold back. We can Confess our sins to Him without reserve.

Jesus is our physician. With the breath of His lips He slays falsehood, and with the rod of His mouth He breaks the tyranny of sin. Through the wave of a priest’s hand, He removes our sins and replaces them Grace.

The new peaceful world prophesized by Isaiah is fulfilled in Jesus. Jesus gives us what we need most, and that is reconciliation with His Heavenly Father. The wolf dwells with the lamb, the leopard lies down with the goat, the calf and the lion feed together, and a little child leads them. We of all walks of life can now have a relationship with God and a share in Heaven.

In His kingdom, there is no harm, no destruction, for the earth is filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Church on Earth, and heirs of Heaven. So, this knowledge is not mere learning, but the intimate knowing of hearts transformed, of lives surrendered to the King who reigns from the wood of the Cross.

The waters covering the Earth are nothing less than the Waters of Baptism, by which Original Sin is washed away and we are made children of Our Heavenly Father, brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, members of His Therefore, a smile should come to our faces, as we rejoice that we are grafted into Jesus, the Stump of Jesse, by the power of the Sacraments. Let us smile that He has bestowed on us the gift of the Holy Spirit. Let us smile that the fruits of the Holy Spirit are blossoming in us right now. Let us smile as we await the moment when we will see Him face to face.

I hope you find this little reflection on Isaiah inspiring. Along with everything going on in our parish on this, the Second Sunday of Advent, we also recall the 84^th Anniversary of the Attack on Pearl Harbor and our entrance into World War II. I am including a prayer offered by President Roosevelt about 2 ½ years later as Allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy. May we never tire of championing good and confronting evil.

St. Joseph, Patron of the Church, and our Patron, pray for us!

Fr. Michael J Pawelko, Pastor

On the evening of June 6, 1944, after Allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy, losing 2500 men killed and some 8500 wounded, President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave the following prayer while addressing the nation by radio:

My Fellow Americans:

Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our Allies were crossing the [English] Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far.

And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer:

Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.

Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.

They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.

They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest – until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men’s souls will be shaken with the violence of war.

For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and goodwill among all Thy people.

They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.

Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom.

And for us at home – fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas, whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them – help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice.

Many people have urged that I call the nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.

Give us strength, too – strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces.

And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be.

And, O Lord, give us faith. Give us faith in Thee; faith in our sons; faith in each other; faith in our united crusade. Let not the keeness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment – let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose.

With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogances. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace – a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil.

Thy will be done, Almighty God. Amen. President Franklin D. Roosevelt – June 6, 1944