Homily – 19 December O Root of Jesse — When God Begins Again

Today the Church cries out one of the great Advent titles of Christ:

O Root of Jesse.

A root is hidden.
It works quietly.
But it is the source of life.

That image matters, because today’s readings are about God beginning again —
not loudly, not dramatically, but faithfully.

In the first reading, we meet Manoah and his wife.
They have no child.
No future, as it were, in their own strength.

And yet God intervenes.

A child is promised — Samson —
not as a reward for success,
but as a gift of mercy.

Notice this:
God does not wait for ideal conditions.
He acts precisely where human hope has run out.

That is how God saves.

He brings life where life seems impossible.
He begins again from the root.

The Gospel shows us the same pattern.

Zechariah and Elizabeth are righteous, faithful, prayerful —
and childless.

Again, a closed future.

And again, God acts.

The angel appears.
A child is promised — John —
the one who will prepare the way for the Lord.

But there is a difference this time.

Zechariah hesitates.
He asks for proof.
He struggles to trust.

And so he is made silent —
not as punishment,
but as a sign.

Salvation does not move forward through argument.
It moves forward through faith.

Now we hear the O Antiphon:

“O Root of Jesse, standing as a sign among the peoples…”

Jesse is the father of David.
The royal line.
But by the time Christ comes, that line looks weak, cut down, almost forgotten.

And yet from that root, God brings forth the Saviour.

The point is clear:

God does not start again from nothing.
He redeems what already exists.
He restores what looks finished.

This is not just about history.
It is about us.

Both Samson and John are signs —
but they are not the Saviour.

They prepare.
They point.
They make room.

Christ is the true Root —
the source from which all life flows.

Salvation does not burst into the world fully formed.
It grows.

Quietly.
Patiently.
Faithfully.

Like a root beneath the soil.

As Christmas approaches,
these readings speak gently but firmly.

If something in your life feels closed,
cut down,
or beyond repair —
do not despair.

God specialises in beginnings that come from roots we thought were dead.

But there is a question for us as well.

Will we trust,
or will we argue?

Will we allow God to act,
or insist on guarantees?

Zechariah’s silence reminds us:
sometimes faith grows best when we stop explaining
and start listening.

Today the Church prays:

O Root of Jesse, come to save us.

Come quietly.
Come faithfully.
Come where life seems closed.

Begin again in us.

And may we, unlike Zechariah at first,
receive God’s promise with trust,
so that salvation may grow
where we least expect it.