Tuesday of the First Week of Advent

On that day, a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse,

and from his roots a bud shall blossom.  

~Isaiah 11:1

"For a stalk to grow or a flower to open there must be time that cannot be forced; nine months must go by for the birth of a human child; to write a book or compose music often years must be dedicated to patient research ... To find the mystery there must be patience, interior purification, silence, waiting...."  ~St. John Paul II

“I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,

for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned

you have revealed them to the childlike.*

~Luke 20:21