3^rd /4^th December 2022

Dear Parishioners,

You will have seen the Jesse Tree last weekend. Our first reading today from Isaiah shows the basis for the Jesse tree. “A shoot springs from the stock of Jesse, a scion thrusts from his roots”. A ‘scion’ is a young shoot or twig of a plant. King David was the son of Jesse. Joseph, husband of Mary, was of David’s house and line. Bethlehem was the City of David; hence Mary and Joseph had to make their way to Bethlehem to register at the first census. So the Jesse tree is Jesus’ family tree.

We can trace the different generations and families names. There are to be found in St Matthew’s Gospel, ch1:1-16. We see “Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, Rahab, Ruth, Obed, Jesse and David; then there was Solomon, Hezekiah, Manasseh, etc. Matthan “father of Jacob and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of her was born Jesus, who is called Christ” (Matt 1:1-16).

Then comes the family connection for us. We are all brothers and sisters of Jesus through our Baptism – hence IT IS OUR FAMILY TREE. What an honour, what a tradition we belong too. It can give us a real identity and a definite place in God’s Divine Plan for us. So the more we know about our heritage and our ancestry, the more we belong to God’s Family. We have the prophets to guide us in this discovery, Today, John the Baptist appears on the scene. He is the cousin of Jesus, so he must be our cousin too!

He is a larger-than-life character – wearing funny clothes and his food pattern is different. Yet, people are flocking to hear him preach at the River Jordan. He proclaim a ‘Gospel of repentance’ to prepare a way for the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. It was not only ordinary people who were coming to listen and be baptised – the religious leaders, the Scribes, Pharisees and the Sadducees, arrived too to see what was happening. They get an earful from John: “Brood of vipers, who warned you to come here??” What a public welcome! John was preparing a way for Jesus – he was clear in his task – he was challenging and made no exceptions or apologies. Now is the time for repentance.

So for us, Advent is that time of preparing a way to welcome Jesus into our minds and hearts once more.

Next weekend, we look forward to celebrating with Ann Marie D’Souza, her Solemn Vows of Final Profession. This will be at 12noon – it can be watched on line as well. Not all can fit in our church for this celebration. Hence our 11am Mass will be Mass of Thanksgiving, followed by a reception in the parish hall. We pray for Ann Marie and all the members of the Verbum Dei Missionary Fraternity. We praise the Lord that we can witness a young woman dedicate her life in service of God through the Verbum Dei Community.

Have a blessed second week of Advent! Fr Joe