Deacon Randy Kiel breaks open this Sunday’s reading from Isaiah 11, reflecting on the “rootstock of Jesse” and God’s promise that life, not death, ultimately triumphs. He explains how this prophecy reveals the deep order of creation and how the Mass restores that order in Christ.
In this week’s reflection, Deacon Randy Kiel, M.A., unpacks Isaiah 11 and the prophetic promise that a shoot will rise from the “stump”—or more accurately, the rootstock—of Jesse. Drawing from Hebrew imagery, he explains how the Davidic line, though seemingly destroyed in the Babylonian exile, would still bring forth the Messiah through God’s unstoppable life and fidelity.
Deacon Randy also highlights the gifts of the Spirit resting upon Christ and how these virtues echo figures like Saul and David before finding their fullness in Jesus. He connects this prophecy with the order of creation itself—pointing to the Mass as the moment when God restores that order, bringing peace, harmony, and right relationship. As he notes, the liturgy is never “the same old thing,” but always the original thing rooted in God’s eternal design.
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