Advent Jesse Tree Day 3: Mother of All Living

For she is an aura of the might of God

and a pure effusion of the glory of the Almighty;

therefore nought that is sullied enters into her.

 

For she is the refulgence of eternal light,

the spotless mirror of the power of God,

the image of His goodness.

 

And she, who is one, can do all things,

and renews everything while herself perduring;

And passing into holy souls from age to age,

she produces friends of God and prophets.

 

For there is nought God loves, be it not

one who dwells with Wisdom.

 

For she is fairer than the sun,

and surpasses every constellation of the stars.

 

Compared to light she takes precedence;

for that; indeed, night supplants,

but wickedness prevails not over Wisdom.

 

~Wisdom 7: 25-30

 

Mary, I give you my will. Conform it to the will of your Son. In the Most Holy Name of Jesus, Amen.

+JMJ+

 

Jesse Tree Advent Day 3:  Mother of All Living (Mary)

From Genesis: The Lord God said to the serpent, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. Genesis 3:14a, 15, 20

From Luke:  In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth… And he came to her and said, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you! … And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.”… And Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.  Luke 1: 25, 28, 31, 38

From John: When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.  John 19: 26-27

From Revelation: And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; she was with child and she cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish for delivery. Then the dragon was angry with the woman, and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus.  Revelation 12: 1-2, 17a

Advent Jesse Tree Day 2: The Fall

Do you trust God or do you trust the serpent?

 

Lord, draw us closer to Your Sacred Heart, so that it is Your voice we hear.  Dispel all the lies that we believe so that only Your truth remains. In Your Holy Name, Amen.

 

+JMJ+

Advent Jesse Tree Day 2:  The Fall (represented by apple and serpent)
 

From Genesis:

But God said, “You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, and he ate.  But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of thee in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”  ~Genesis 3: 3-6, 9-11

 From First Corinthians:

For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.  For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.  ~1 Corinthians 15: 21-22

From Romans:                                

Therefore as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned. ….Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.  But the free gift is not like the trespass.  For if many through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. ~Romans 5: 12, 14-15

Advent Jesse Tree Day 1: In the beginning

Advent is one of the most beautiful times of the Church year, a time to examine and prepare our hearts for the coming of our Lord Jesus, both in His Nativity and in His glorious return at the end of the present world.  We ask God to prepare us, and we say, Come Lord Jesus!

God's promises to His beloved people are throughout His Word.  He is faithful, and we can trust Him and His Fatherly promises.  He is our Shepherd, and we are His people.  One of the ways that God has drawn me to Him is in studying the Old Testament and seeing the beauty of His plan for His people and for us, His children.  He loves us and draws us close to His heart throughout our lives.  May we call to our Shepherd in our brokenness, listen, hear His voice, and know His presence.  He comes to find us when we are lost, and in the darkness, we hear His voice calling us closer to Him.  Come, Lord Jesus, find us, heal us, and prepare us to receive You ever more.

+ JMJ+

Jesse Tree Day 1:  In the beginning (represented by planet Earth ornament)

 

From Genesis 1:

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and the darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters. And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. Genesis 1: 1-3, 27, 31

From John 1

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father. John 1: 1-5, 14

O Emmanuel

O Rex Gentium

O Oriens

O Clavis David

O Radix Jesse

Test Strips for Rwanda

H/T Therese at Aussie Coffee Shop

Sugary lemonade to cool a hot temper

Gee, all I need is to drink more sugary lemonade! Wow, now that's easy!


Note/Disclaimer: I do not know anything about the website linked above, so ignore any politically correct or ideological driven science reports you may see there.


On a more joyful note: Hope you are having a blessed Advent. This is our most favorite season of the year. The kids love doing Advent prayers (that is when I'm not losing my temper asking them to sit quietly ;) ). Now that we have begun doing the lego calendar (as of yesterday Dec 1st), they have some more motivation to listen to the Jesse Tree meditations and other Bible readings we do during Advent. We just need to figure out a schedule as to who gets to do the Bible reading, lead the song, hang up the Jesse tree ornament, build the lego, blow out the candle, etc.... Doing a chart seemed too contrived to me, but we may just have to do that, because when they all know their role, then they will actually prayerfully participate. Maybe we should include sugary lemonade for Mom in there just for good measure ;) Dad doesn't need the sugary lemonade, he just rolls with punches :)

A Blessed Advent to you!