THE JESSE TREE
SERIES:
What does Tuesday of the Third week
of Advent entail for our Jesse Tree:
THE HAND OF
FRIENDSHIP.
SCRIPTURE:2 Kings 5:1-27
Through Elisha's interventions, the commander of the Syrian army is healed in the waters of the Jordan. In the Church this cure prefigured the purifying power of Christian baptism.
THE PERSON: ELSHA
Elisha, whose name in Hebrew means
“God is Salvation,” was an Israelite prophet and disciple of Elijah. Accounts
of Elisha’s life and activities are found in 1 and 2 Kings, but these biblical
texts are the only records we have of such a person. According to the Bible,
Elisha was active during the reigns of Israelite kings Joram, Jehu, Jehoahaz,
and Joash, which would place him during the last half of the 9th century BCE.
Elisha is described as the son of a
(possibly rich) farmer in Galilee who was called by Elijah while tilling one of
his family’s fields. This story has strong parallels with the accounts of Jesus
calling his own disciples in Galilee, some of whom were in the act of fishing
when Jesus encountered them. Elisha preached and worked in the northern kingdom
of Israel and eventually came to live on Mt. Caramel with a servant.
:
Elisha’s message to those in charge
was that they should turn back to traditional religious practices and
acknowledge God’s absolute sovereignty over every aspect of life, personal as
well as political. When he healed the sick, it was to demonstrate God’s power
over life and death. When he helped in battle, it was to demonstrate God’s power
over nations and kingdoms.
Whereas his mentor Elijah was constantly in conflict with political authorities, Elisha had a much friendlier relationship with them. King Joram was, however, the son of Ahab and therefore doomed by Elijah. With Elisha’s encouragement, general Jehu killed Joram and assumed the throne. The religious purge that followed may have reinforced traditional beliefs, but at the cost of weakening the kingdom militarily and politically.
THE EVENT/THEME: THE HAND OF
FRIENDSHIP: During our reflection time today, let
us ponder on the hand of friendship in our lives.
We may wish to
1.
Offer a prayer for all those who have offered the hand of friendship to us in our lives
in a time of need.
2.
Rediscover the gift of friendship and what it means to you (in the past
and presently)
3.
Make a practical commitment: As today's theme is the hand of friendship, we may wish to:
o
reconnect with a friend whom we have
not been in contact.
o
Help another person without getting
any reward.
o
Consider our own healing- do we look
for a miracle or can we do something ourselves to support God's healing
process, since He works through anointing of the sick, sacrament of
reconciliation and through the medical professional's advice. What steps can we
make towards our own healing?
SYMBOL 17:
Let us remember the prophet
Elisha as we prepare our seventeenth symbol (sixteenth cut out symbol) and
place it on the tree. Naarman a Syrian army officer is healed of his leprosy as
a result of an encounter with Elisha. The prophet does not seek any reward
No comments:
Post a Comment