O Radix Jessi
O Root of Jesse, you have been raised up as a sign for all peoples; kings stand silent in your presence; the nations bow down in worship before you. Come, let nothing keep you from coming to our aid.
While the world around us is often a fit of rage and toxic noise, the truth is that this is but the cumulative effect of human hearts that do not know God. As a general rule, the farther we distance ourselves from God, the more chaotic our interior life becomes, which of course becomes manifest in our actions as well. Some of us have better mechanisms for managing this chaos than others. But as St Augustine once said, the human heart is truly restless until it finds its rest in God.
We can certainly talk about and look forward to the day when kings will be silenced and entire nations will bow down in worship before the Lord. But the Root of Jesse has been raised up as a sign for all peoples. And that includes you and me. God has come to our aid.
However, this Root of Jesse has not come with a YouTube channel or a media empire. Rather, He has come in the form of a helpless babe dependent upon a mother who nursed him. And He continues to come to us in the silence, poverty, and humility of the Eucharist, dependent upon the priest by whose hands He is made present.
Kings will one day stand silent in His presence and nations will indeed bow down and worship before Him. But that day has already arrived in the Church. Therefore, Advent is a time for each of us to take the place of kings and bow down for the nations by drawing near to Christ in silence, humility, and holy reverence. In doing so, we will find our rest and become for others a true refuge.