Thought for the Day – 23 December – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)
Meditations for Advent
From “The Devout Year”
By Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)
“O Radix Jesse”
“O Root of Jesse , Who standest for a Sign to the nations, before Whom kings shall close their mouth,
of Whom the Gentiles shall entreat mercy;
Come to set us free and no longer delay!”
+1. The King Who is to Come is of the Root of Jesse, since He is of David’s Royal line. He is the true David, Who laid low the spiritual Goliath, the prince of darkness, who, in pagan times, defied the power of the living God.
He is above all, the Man after God’s Own Heart , in that the one motive of His Heart is to carry out His Father’s Will.
If this is the motive power of my life, then I too am of the Root of Jesse and in spite of failings, am a man after God’s Own Heart, in proportion as this motive, is ever present to me.
+2. Jesus is a Sign to the nations; a Sign of contradiction to His enemies but before Whom, the most powerful will have to close their mouth in humble subjection; a Sign to His friends, the men of goodwill in every clime and country, who will be drawn to Him to offer their joyful homage at His Feet, entreating of Him that mercy which He is more ready to grant, than they to ask.
To me He is a Sign, either fondly loved, or neglected and treated as of no account!
+3. O Root of Jesse O King and Saviour, Come and set us free; free from all which displeases Thee, free from the snares which entangle our feet, free from our perverse attachment to our own will , free from the power of the devil, free from our apathy in obeying Thy commands and holy inspirations, free from all which hinders us in Thy service; Come and say the Word and we shall be delivered!
AnaStpaul 