O Christmas Tree
“For there is hope for a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its shoots will not cease. (Job 14:7)
She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called blessed. (Proverbs 3:18)
The glory of Lebanon shall come to you, the cypress, the plane, and the pine, to beautify the place of my sanctuary, and I will make the place of my feet glorious. (Isaiah 60:13)
A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. (Isaiah 11:1)
I spent the first 9 years of my childhood in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I attended Mother of Good Counsel School (affectionately referred to as MGC) which was just a couple blocks from my home. I loved Advent at MGC because it meant daily Mass had a new addition: the Jesse Tree. Each morning a different student was given the honor of placing an ornament upon the tree as Fr. Bruce worked the theme of that ornament into his homily. Slowly as the tree began to fill, so did my heart with the knowledge that Christmas was indeed getting closer. This year our church has a Jesse Tree placed at the entrance by the baptismal font. Sadly all of the ornaments are already upon it. The building anticipation and day by day story of God’s fulfilled promises lost. The Jesse Tree is actually the precursor to Christmas trees as we know them, its first depiction around the year 1080. Each ornament that is placed upon it highlights a different time of God fulfilling His promises to His people through Jewish history. The story of salvation is a story of family history. And the fact that God’s chosen people have required saving time and again should comfort us all. Families fall into the rhythm of brokenness in one way or another, but our families are held within the embrace of God’s bigger family. We still need a savior. Jesus was, Jesus is, and Jesus will be. Christmas is a beautiful time to look upon our Christmas trees and be grateful for the moments of grace that God has entered in our families past and provided salvation. We can be filled with hope for the moments that we lift in prayer for Jesus to enter into our present situation or our future. As for me and my house, we doth love the Christmas tree. So much so that I have three full sized trees decorated differently in my home. They go up the weekend of Thanksgiving, the better to light the way to Christmas. I write this Advent of Advent blog too late for many if you are like me and already have your tree up and decorated. Perhaps I have caught some of you in time. No matter our decorating theme, I wager that most of us have a box of ornaments that are special. You know the ones, the family ornaments. Ornaments we received as gifts, ornaments that marked milestones of our families lives, ornaments that we purchased on vacations, ornaments we have to remind us of the true meaning of that tree. This year let us enter into the spirit of the Jesse Tree. Let us not see the tree as one of a long list of to-do’s, or as simply one of the to-do’s we have successfully done. Let’s not allow our trees to simply be a decoration or a backdrop for presents. Allow Christ’s light to shine upon us through the multitude of light and see where His light draws our gaze. Let’s put our phones down, turn the television off, and spend some time gazing upon the beauty that is The Story of Us, because that is what the tree is. It is a story of our families here on earth united with the story of God’s family that started in the nativity.
