From our Old Testament reading, from Isaiah: ‘There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord’.

St Ambrose commented: ‘Scripture also expresses the Son’s incarnation beautifully: “from a bud you have gone up,” for like a plant of the earth he was to be conceived in the womb of a virgin. And like a fragrant flower sent forth from the maternal bosom in the splendour of the dawn, he was to go up for the redemption of the whole world, as Isaiah says: “There will come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower will blossom from his root …”’

Today let us kneel in wonder at the beauty of His coming, soon to be revealed; and may God bless you and be close to you this day.