Father Perry D. Leiker, pastor.
A reflection on the weekday readings, for Tuesday of the First Week of Advent, by Father Perry.
By Father Perry D. Leiker, pastor
From a stump, the stump of Jesse, a tiny shoot, and from the roots a blossoming bud.
Ah! The Davidic line is declared the pathway for God’s special entrance among us.
And what tremendous gifts will accompany that line.
The Spirit of the Lord will bestow an abundant Spirit of wisdom and understanding, and counsel, strength and knowledge and fear of the Lord.
That is, tremendous awe in and for the Lord.
This Spirit would inspire so deeply that even words and breath would bring about profound justice and peace, and all would be changed.
Even the usual fierce animals would lie down and even play with docile animals and with little children.
Indeed, the wolf and lamb would be guests of one another.
The baby shall play next to the cobra’s den.
Ah, profound peace!
My goodness, what the Spirit cannot achieve; it knows no bounds!
Even the Gentiles will be drawn into this glorious sight; they will seek it out!
And Jesus, the true embodiment of this Spirit of God, declares that the Father has handed all things over to him, and that he has total knowledge of the Father.
He has the power to share that knowledge and reveal the Father to all who would be childlike enough to want to be open to hearing and seeing and loving the divine, now having been given to them in the person of Jesus the Christ.
The proof is in the pudding!
When we truly hear, see, and discover that transforming love, then the words of the psalm, like that tiny blossom, will indeed open up.
The prophecies of old would and will come true and, “justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace forever.”
Ah, it seems too good to be true with at least two major wars raging during this very time of Advent!
We look backward in time to his first coming, and forward into the future for the second and final coming of the Lord.
And we have the perfect pleasure to be open to meeting the Christ within us and among us every single day, as we welcome his Spirit in our faith, seeking, and longing.
There is no limit to God’s power to save and to present us that Spirit — except the limit that we ourselves place on it.
And so, in an effort to be open to and welcoming, and receptive to that Spirit, we sing throughout our Advent time —
“O Come, O Come Emmanuel [God with us!] and ransom captive Israel.”
No! Ransom captive everyone who indeed seeks that powerful Spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, strength, and knowledge and fear — awe — of the Lord.
And so much more than we could ever imagine.
Father Perry Dean Leiker is the 13th pastor of St. Bernard Catholic Church. Reach him at (323) 255-6142. Email Father Perry at pleiker@stbernard-church.com.
[image: Oisin Conolly | Unsplash]
