Reflection for Tuesday, Dec. 1

Today’s first reading from Isaiah 11:1-10 brings mixed emotions. It was a much-awaited message of hope that from the bud of the Jesse tree there would emerge a Messiah that one day would bring a spirit of wisdom and understanding, counsel and strength and that in time the “lion would lie with the lamb” and that “there shall be no harm on thy holy mountain.” 

But it may be difficult for many of us to hold on to that thread of hope amidst the present-day chaos of a deadly pandemic, political acrimony, and the cancer of persistent racism. 

It is important to understand, however, that it is the way and truth of the very life of Jesus Christ that embodies that messianic message of hope. It’s on us. Only when we learn to follow that way: by loving our neighbor and by protecting and sharing the beauty and bounty of nature’s gifts, can we truly create a world in which no one will be poor or hungry, and that different races, religions, and cultures will learn to live in peace, harmony and mutual respect.

Jim Malley