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Christmas
2002
Promise becomes alive
By EDWARD HAYS
The Jesse tree is an evergreen sign of God’s ability to
sprout a new divine dream after it has been cut back and apparently destroyed.
Old Jesse of Bethlehem was the father of David, who became king of Israel and
whose dynasty rule was promised to last forever. Generations after David,
Babylonians chopped down that royal family tree, destroyed Solomon’s
temple and carried off the Jewish elite into exile in Babylon. In their
mournful exile, the prophet Isaiah -- shown in the lower branches on the right
side of this Jesse tree -- sang a song of hope, pointing toward a promised
prophecy: “A shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his
roots a bud shall blossom.” In his arm Isaiah is pictured holding the
scrolls of the other prophets and proclaiming the name of the promise to be
Emmanuel, which means “God with us.”
Back at the beginning, God promised a Savior to Adam and Eve,
whose disobedience and failure to love is signified by the half-eaten apple and
the serpent curling in the tree’s roots. John the Baptist, the prophet of
the Jordan -- shown in the lower branches on the left -- is the patron saint of
Advent preparation, having announced a baptism of repentance to prepare the way
for the Savior. Above him, playing the harp, is King David, the ancestor of
Joseph the carpenter of Nazareth, who would be known as the father of
Jesus.
In the center of the tree is the Advent wreath, its candles
counting time. Out of the wreath rises St. Nicholas, the patron saint of
gift-giving, whose feast is celebrated early in Advent.
To his right is Mary of Nazareth, with the archangel Gabriel
announcing to her that she has been chosen to be the mother of the Savior by
the power of the Holy Spirit. Above her is the imperial Caesar Augustus
ordering a Roman census of the world in which each subject was to return to his
home village to be registered. So Joseph of the house of David of Bethelehem
took his pregnant wife from Nazareth to register in his family’s
“Little Town,” shown at the base of the Christmas tree.
Over the night-shrouded hills, an angel points the way to
frightened shepherds toward the village where Mary had given birth to their
long-awaited Savior. Opposite them in the tree are the Magi kings and the great
star that had led them to Bethlehem to present their gifts to the infant Prince
of Peace.
The lower branches of the tree are covered with the purple leaves
of Advent longing and preparation for the arrival of God’s Promise. When
the Promise becomes alive in Mary’s womb, the leaves turn to vibrant
joyful green, and their top branches curve into the Christmas tree on which
reigns the infant Savior wrapped in swaddling bands as foretold to the
shepherds. The apple of Adam and Eve, a bitter sign of disobedience, is
replaced at the top by golden and orange ornaments, representing the fruit of
the Christ Child, whose arms are spread outward in a world-encompassing
blessing.
| A sampling of Ed
Hays’ books |
Each book by Fr. Ed Hays is
likely to turn upside down the reader’s ideas of holiness and spirituality
-- and enlighten and entertain in the process.
Feathers on the
Wind
The Great Escape Manual: Spirituality of
Liberation
Holy Fools and Mad Hatters: A Handbook for Hobbyhorse
Holiness
Pray All Ways
A Pilgrim’s Almanac:
Reflections for Each Day of the Year
Psalms for Zero Gravity:
Prayers for Life’s Emigrants
Secular Sanctity: Reflections
on Finding God in the Midst of Everyday Life
His books are available
from Forest of Peace Publishing: www.forestofpeace.com or phone:
800-659-3227 |
National Catholic Reporter, December 20,
2002
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