Hope
Second Sunday of Advent
Turn
A shoot shall come out
from the stump 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.
His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide by what his ears hear;
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist,
and faithfulness the belt around his loins.
The wolf shall live with the lamb,
the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze,
their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the
ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den.
They will not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain;
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
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 11:1-10
The Tree of Jesse
Representing the ancestry of Jesus Christ
Ivory panel from Bamberg (?), Bavaria
1200
Musée du Louvre
Paris
France
Second Sunday in Advent, Year A: This
scene depicts the Tree of Jesse that Isaiah prophesies, heralding the coming of
the Lord — “A shoot shall come out from the stump 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. (Isaiah 11:1-1)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_of_Jesse
"Advent calls us to hope in the
promise
that God is calling us to greater things
and will be with us as we live them.....
Hope is the recall of good in
the past,
on which we base our expectation of good in
the future,
however bad the present.
It digs in the rubble of the heart for memory
of God's promise
to bring good out of evil and joy out of
sadness and,
on the basis of those memories of the past,
takes new hope for the future.
Even in the face of death.
Even in the fear of loss.
Even when our own private little worlds go to
dust,
as sooner or later, they always do."
~ Joan Chittister
We must accept finite disappointment,
but never lose infinite hope.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
Jeanne Gibbard and I had lunch and then went to the
holiday show at the Arvada Center.
Vicki Hall had her second chemo treatment on Thursday and wore
one of the
shirts some of her coffee group gave her.
Sharron Leonard, Catherine Rafter, Danna Cuin
Sharron treated Danna and me to lunch with her PEO chapter on
Friday
at Mount Vernon Country Club.
Carolyn Alexander, Jackie McFarland, Nancy Priest, Carolyn (CV)
Martyn
We had a 3-hour lunch at Kachina in Westminster.
Vicki had her head shaved on Saturday:
In her own words …
"Hair today …
… gone tomorrow.”
How many of us could have such a great attitude?
Hope is being able to see that there is light
despite all of the darkness.
~ Desmond Tutu
December 4, 2016 Second Sunday of Advent
Whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Welcome
one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.
For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of
the truth of God in order that he might confirm the promises given to the
patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As
it is written,
and
again he says,
and
again,
and
again Isaiah says,
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:4-13
Agnus Day, by James Wetzstein
Agnus Day appears with the
permission of www.agnusday.org
Italian Proverb
Isaiah 11:1-10
Psalm 72:1-7,18-19
Romans 15:4-13
Matthew 3:1-12