When something has been cut off, all that is left is a stump. We go through life experiencing so many things that we sometimes feel like we have been obliterated. I have heard someone said something about being erased from the face of the earth as if they never existed. This happens when people try to deliberately wipe out the existence of another just as what happened to the chosen people of God during the time of the prophet Isaiah when the Davidic lineage and kingship had been cut off. It was a very difficult time then but Isaiah gave hope through his prophecies which were all fulfilled in Jesus. As we all live to this day, we can also say that we are in a siege and sometimes do not know anymore who to turn to. In times when we ourselves experience trials and persecution as if our very existence is being wiped out. Who do we trust? We have to go higher and beyond ourselves and become closer to God. God is like a mountain and He is there period whether we acknowledge Him or not. When on a mountain we can gain new perspective and build on solid grounds. It is the same when we have God in our lives. Our suffering has value and we know that we are not alone. We turn and cling to God and cultivate this loving relationship with Him. Amen. Hallelujah!
Isaiah 11:1-10
On that day, a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom...
Real change is happening. God is the mover and it is objectively happening. It is up to us subjectively, to make room for God in our lives. He can not force Himself on us. We have to turn back to God and away from sin. This we need to do if we want to see the psalm reading fulfilled in our lives. Amen. Hallelujah!
Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17
R: Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.
...For he shall rescue the poor when he cries out, and the afflicted when he has no one to help him. 13 He shall have pity for the lowly and the poor; the lives of the poor he shall save...
In all these things we know that it is our hope in God that we can endure to the end. Amen. Hallelujah!
Romans 15:4-9
4 Brothers and sisters: Whatever was written previously was written for our instruction, that by endurance and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope…
We sometimes lose sight of the radical inclination of our nature to sin. We need God's grace to keep us on track and turn away from evil. We have to acknowledge our sins. We can't rely on our past efforts or our lineage is not enough. The Pharisees and Sadducees in today's gospel may have thought that being the chosen people is all that matters but it doesn't count at all if there is no true conversion. Let us not be fooled by the world's misrepresentations. It is something personal and is renewed everyday. Jesus is the Kingdom in person. We belong to Him if we are converted to Him. We've got to have the free will to repent, turn away from sin, focus on Him and really attach to Him. Amen. Hallelujah!
Matthew 3:1-12
...‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.’…When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance. 9 And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 10 Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees. Therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
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