Second Sunday of Advent

Hope and Repentance and Conversion and Renewal



 

 

1   A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, 
          and a branch shall grow out of his roots. 
2   The spirit of the LORD shall rest on him, 
          the spirit of wisdom and understanding, 
          the spirit of counsel and might, 
          the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. 
3   His delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.

     He shall not judge by what his eyes see, 
          or decide by what his ears hear; 
4   but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, 
          and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; 
     he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, 
          and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. 
5   Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, 
          and faithfulness the belt around his loins.

6   The wolf shall live with the lamb, 
          the leopard shall lie down with the kid, 
     the calf and the lion and the fatling together, 
          and a little child shall lead them. 
7   The cow and the bear shall graze, 
          their young shall lie down together; 
          and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 
8   The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, 
          and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den. 
9   They will not hurt or destroy 
          on all my holy mountain; 
     for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD 
          as the waters cover the sea.

Isaiah 11:1-10

 

 

Peaceable Kingdom

SWANSON, John August

Print

1994

Los Angeles, California

United States

 

Notes:

To purchase prints, cards, and posters of John August Swanson's works, visit http://www.johnaugustswanson.com

Serigraph 30” by 22½”

JOHN AUGUST SWANSON makes his home in Los Angeles, California, where he was born in 1938. He paints in oil, watercolor, acrylic and mixed media, and is an independent printmaker of limited edition serigraphs, lithographs and etchings.

His art reflects the strong heritage of storytelling he inherited from his Mexican mother and Swedish father. John Swanson’s narrative is direct and easily understood. He addresses himself to human values, cultural roots, and his quest for self-discovery through visual images. These include Bible stories and social celebrations such as attending the circus, the concert, and the opera. He also tells of everyday existence, of city and country walks, of visits to the library, the train station or the schoolroom. All his parables optimistically embrace life and one’s spiritual transformation.

John Swanson studied with Corita Kent at Immaculate Heart College. His unique style is influenced by the imagery of Islamic and medieval miniatures, Russian iconography, the color of Latin American folk art, and the tradition of Mexican muralists.

His art is in no way "naïve." It is detailed, complex, and elaborate. Unlike many contemporary artists, John Swanson works directly on all phases in producing his original prints. His serigraphs (limited-edition screen prints) have from 40 to 89 colors printed, using transparent and opaque inks creating rich and detailed imagery. For each color printed the artist must draw a stencil on Mylar film. This stencil is transferred to the silk screen for printing the color ink on the serigraph edition. The resulting serigraph is a matrix of richly overlaid colors visually striking and technically masterful.

Mr. Swanson’s art is represented in the permanent collections of many museums, including three museums of the Smithsonian Institution: The National Museum of American History, The National Museum of American Art and The National Air and Space Museum. He is also included in the print collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, Harvard University’s Fogg Museum, the Tate Gallery and Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris. His painting THE PROCESSION is one of relatively few works by contemporary artists to be selected for the Vatican Museums’ Collection of Modern Religious Art. In 2008, an extensive collection of John August Swanson’s works were purchased by Emory University’s Candler School of Theology to hang on the walls of their new 76,349 square foot building. He was awarded The Dean’s Medal for his art’s transformative effect on the campus. With over 55 works hung, this is the largest open public display of the artwork of John August Swanson. [from the artist's website]

 

https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/diglib-fulldisplay.pl?SID=20221203608639210&code=ACT&RC=56556&Row=12

 

 

 

 

Advent calls us to hope in the promise 

that God is calling us to greater things 

and will be with us as we live them.....
Hope is the recall of good in the past, 

on which we base our expectation of good in the future, 

however bad the present.

It digs in the rubble of the heart for memory of God's promise 

to bring good out of evil and joy out of sadness and,

on the basis of those memories of the past, 

takes new hope for the future.

Even in the face of death. 

Even in the fear of loss.

Even when our own private little worlds go to dust, 

as sooner or later, they always do.

~ Joan Chittister

 

 

 

To repent is to come to your senses.

It is not so much something you do

as something that happens.

True repentance spends less time looking at the past

and saying, "I'm sorry,"

than to the future and saying,"Wow!" 

                        ~ Frederick Buechner

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Junna and Tina Yoshioka after a BIG meal.

 

Ray Yoshioka with his uncle, Kei Sakamoto

 

Robin Sakamoto with Ray Yoshioka

 

Four Generations

Jack Alexander, Robin Sakamoto, Ray, Junna, and Tina Yoshioka

 

This is earthquake and tsunami country!!!

 

Ray and Junna Yoshioka, Jack Alexander, Eugene and Tina Yoshioka

on the train.

 

Train station

 

Sixty years ago, kimonos and yukatas were still worn.

 

Today, they are still used for formal occasions and festivals, or you can rent them.

 

You can even rent a rickshaw.

It’s a bit like taking a horse drawn ride in Charleston.

 

Hokokuji Bamboo Garden

Kamakura, Japan

 

 

So lovely!

 

 

 

 

And then it was time to again eat!

Yum!

 

 

 

 

 

Isn’t it the moment of most profound doubt

that gives birth to new certainties?

Perhaps hopelessness is the very soil

that nourishes human hope;

perhaps one could never find sense in life

without first experiencing its absurdity.

~ Vaclav Havel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

December 4, 2022  Second Sunday of Advent Year A

 

Previous OPQs may be found at: 

     http://www.dotjack.com/opq.htm

 

1In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, 2“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 3This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, 
     “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 
     ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, 
          make his paths straight.’” 
4Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, 6and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

7But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8Bear fruit worthy of repentance. 9Do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. 10Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 

11“I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

Matthew 3:1-12

“I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the one who is coming will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
Matthew 3: 1-12

 

 

 

Agnus Day, by James Wetzstein

Agnus Day appears with the permission of www.agnusday.org

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Isaiah 11:1–10 

Psalm 72:1–7, 18–19 

Romans 15:4–13 

Matthew 3:1–12

 

John the Baptist appeared, preaching the desert:  “I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the one who is coming will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
Matthew 3: 1-12

THE WORD: 

In today’s Gospel, John the Baptizer makes his appearance this Advent season, preaching a baptism of repentance and conversion of life.

Matthew’s details about John’s appearance are intended to recall the austere dress of the great prophet Elijah (2 Kings 1: 8).  The Jews believed that Elijah would return from heaven to announce the long-awaited restoration of Israel as God’s Kingdom.  For Matthew, this expectation is fulfilled in John the Baptizer.  Through the figure of the Baptizer, the evangelist makes the “Old” Testament touch the “New.”

Matthew reports that John strikes a responsive chord in the people who have come from throughout the region to hear him at the Jordan River.  He has strong words for the Pharisees and Sadducees who step up for his baptism but have no intention of embracing the spirit of conversion and renewal to make their own lives ready for the Messiah who comes.

In proclaiming the Messiah’s “baptism in the Holy Spirit and fire,” John employs the image of a “winnowing-fan.”  A winnowing-fan was a flat, wooden, shovel-like tool, used to toss grain into the air.  The heavier grain fell to the ground and chaff was blown away.  In the same way, John says, the Messiah will come to gather the “remnant” of Israel and destroy the Godless.

https://connectionsmediaworks.com/sundaygospel.html#dec4

 

A descendent of Jesse will usher in a time of peace. The Messiah will bring justice and peace to the nations. Both Jews and Gentiles glorify God for the salvation found in Christ Jesus.



https://www.loyolapress.com/catholic-resources/liturgical-year/sunday-connection/second-sunday-of-advent-cycle-a-sunday-connection/



 

 

First Reading Isaiah 11:1-10

1   A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, 
          and a branch shall grow out of his roots. 
2   The spirit of the LORD shall rest on him, 
          the spirit of wisdom and understanding, 
          the spirit of counsel and might, 
          the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. 
3   His delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.

     He shall not judge by what his eyes see, 
          or decide by what his ears hear; 
4   but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, 
          and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; 
     he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, 
          and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. 
5   Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, 
          and faithfulness the belt around his loins.

6   The wolf shall live with the lamb, 
          the leopard shall lie down with the kid, 
     the calf and the lion and the fatling together, 
          and a little child shall lead them. 
7   The cow and the bear shall graze, 
          their young shall lie down together; 
          and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 
8   The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, 
          and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den. 
9   They will not hurt or destroy 
          on all my holy mountain; 
     for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD 
          as the waters cover the sea.

10On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.

 

Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19

1   Give the king your justice, O God, 
          and your righteousness to a king’s son. 
2   May he judge your people with righteousness, 
          and your poor with justice. 
3   May the mountains yield prosperity for the people, 
          and the hills, in righteousness. 
4   May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, 
          give deliverance to the needy, 
          and crush the oppressor. 
5   May he live while the sun endures, 
          and as long as the moon, throughout all generations. 
6   May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass, 
          like showers that water the earth. 
7   In his days may righteousness flourish 
     and peace abound, until the moon is no more.

18   Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, 
          who alone does wondrous things. 
19   Blessed be his glorious name forever; 
          may his glory fill the whole earth. Amen and Amen.

Second Reading Romans 15:4-13

4For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. 5May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, 6so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

7Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. 8For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of the truth of God in order that he might confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, 9and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, 
     “Therefore I will confess you among the Gentiles, 
          and sing praises to your name”; 
10and again he says, 
     “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people”; 
11and again, 
     “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, 
          and let all the peoples praise him”; 
12and again Isaiah says, 
     “The root of Jesse shall come, 
          the one who rises to rule the Gentiles; 
     in him the Gentiles shall hope.” 
13May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Gospel Matthew 3:1-12

1In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, 2“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 3This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, 
     “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 
     ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, 
          make his paths straight.’” 
4Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, 6and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

7But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8Bear fruit worthy of repentance. 9Do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. 10Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 

11“I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”