Five enemies of peace inhabit with us —
Avarice, ambition, envy, anger, and pride;
If these were to be banished,
We should infallibly enjoy perpetual peace.
~ Francesco
Petrarch
(1304
- 1374)
Lynn
and Jim Gilbert and I thoroughly enjoyed “Frozen” at the Arvada Center.
Anna
Marie Nelson and I enjoyed lunch at the Cheesecake Factory!
Remembering
Virginia
(Ginny) Bliss Bailey
May
3, 1944 ~ November 30,
2025
Let there be peace on earth
And let it begin with me.
Jill Jackson and Seymour Miller
December 7, 2025 Second
Sunday of Advent - Year A
Previous OPQs may be found at:
* By Wendell Berry
Copyright (c)
2012 by Wendell Berry, reproduced by permission of Counterpoint
1 A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,
and
a branch shall grow out of his roots.
2 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.
3 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;
4 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.
5 Righteousness
shall be the belt around his waist,
and faithfulness
the belt around his loins.
6 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.
7 The cow and the
bear shall graze,
their young shall
lie down together;
and the lion shall
eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child
shall play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned
child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.
9 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.
10On 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.
Agnus Day, by
James Weinstein
Agnus
Day appears with the permission of www.agnusday.org
Agnus Day, by
James Weinstein
Agnus
Day appears with the permission of www.agnusday.org
1A
shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch shall
grow out of his roots.
2The 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.
Musée de l'hospice Saint-Roch à Issoudun
This scene depicts the
Tree of Jesse that Isaiah prophesies, heralding the coming of the Lord.
LECTIONARY
John the Baptist appeared, preaching the desert: “I am
baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the one who is coming will
baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
Matthew 3: 1-12
THE WORD:
In today’s Gospel, John the Baptizer makes his appearance this Advent season,
preaching a baptism of repentance and conversion of life.
Matthew’s details about John’s appearance are intended to recall
the austere dress of the great prophet Elijah (2 Kings 1: 8). The Jews
believed that Elijah would return from heaven to announce the long-awaited
restoration of Israel as God’s Kingdom. For Matthew, this expectation is
fulfilled in John the Baptizer. Through the figure of the Baptizer, the
evangelist makes the “Old” Testament touch the “New.”
Matthew reports that John strikes a responsive chord in the
people who have come from throughout the region to hear him at the Jordan
River. He has strong words for the Pharisees and Sadducees who step up
for his baptism but have no intention of embracing the spirit of conversion and
renewal to make their own lives ready for the Messiah who comes.
In proclaiming the Messiah’s “baptism in the Holy Spirit and
fire,” John employs the image of a “winnowing-fan.” A winnowing-fan was a
flat, wooden, shovel-like tool, used to toss grain into the air. The
heavier grain fell to the ground and chaff was blown away. In the same
way, John says, the Messiah will come to gather the “remnant” of Israel and
destroy the Godless.
A descendent of
Jesse will usher in a time of peace. The Messiah will
bring justice and peace to the nations. Both Jews and Gentiles glorify God for
the salvation found in Christ Jesus.
First Reading Isaiah 11:1-10
1 A shoot shall come out from the stump of
Jesse,
and a branch shall
grow out of his roots.
2 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.
3 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;
4 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.
5 Righteousness shall be the belt around his
waist,
and faithfulness
the belt around his loins.
6 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.
7 The cow and the bear shall graze,
their young shall
lie down together;
and the lion shall
eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of
the asp,
and the weaned
child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.
9 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.
10On 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.
Psalm
72:1-7, 18-19
1 Give the king your justice, O God,
and your
righteousness to a king’s son.
2 May he judge your people with righteousness,
and your poor with
justice.
3 May the mountains yield prosperity for the
people,
and the hills, in
righteousness.
4 May he defend the cause of the poor of the
people,
give deliverance to
the needy,
and crush the
oppressor.
5 May he live while the sun endures,
and as long as the
moon, throughout all generations.
6 May he be like rain that falls on the mown
grass,
like showers that
water the earth.
7 In his days may righteousness flourish
and peace abound, until the moon is no more.
18 Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,
who alone does
wondrous things.
19 Blessed be his glorious name forever;
may his glory fill
the whole earth. Amen and Amen.
Second
Reading Romans 15:4-13
4For
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. 5May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live
in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, 6so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
7Welcome
one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. 8For 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, 9and in order that the Gentiles
might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,
“Therefore I will confess you among the Gentiles,
and sing praises to
your name”;
10and again he says,
“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people”;
11and again,
“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,
and let all the
peoples praise him”;
12and again Isaiah says,
“The root of Jesse shall come,
the one who rises
to rule the Gentiles;
in him the Gentiles shall hope.”
13May 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.
Gospel
Matthew 3:1-12
1In
those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, 2“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 3This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said,
“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths
straight.’”
4Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt
around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to
him, and all the region along the Jordan, 6and they were baptized by him in
the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
7But
when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them,
“You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8Bear fruit worthy of repentance. 9Do not presume to say to
yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from
these stones to raise up children to Abraham. 10Even now the ax is lying at the
root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut
down and thrown into the fire.
11“I
baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is
coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with
the Holy Spirit and fire. 12His winnowing fork is in his hand,
and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the
granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
