Monday, January 13 : Saint Jerome

“A shoot shall sprout from the stock of Jesse (David’s father) and from his roots a bud shall blossom. The Spirit of the Lord will rest upon him” (Is 11:1-2). This whole prophecy is about Christ… The Jews interpret the shoot and the flower sprouting from the stock of Jesse as the Lord himself: for them, the shoot is a symbol of the royal scepter, the flower represents his beauty. Where we Christians are concerned, in the shoot that issues from the stock of Jesse we see the holy Virgin Mary to whom none was united to make her fruitful. It is she whom the same prophet pointed to in an earlier passage: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son” (7:14). And in the flower we recognize our Lord and Savior, who says in the Song of Songs: “I am the flower of the field and lily of the valleys” (Sg 2:1)… Upon this flower that suddenly sprouts from the stock and root of Jesse through the Virgin Mary, the Spirit of the Lord comes to rest, for “it pleased God to make the whole fullness of the deity dwell in him bodily” (Col 2:9). Not in a partial way as it did on other saints but as we read in the Gospel of Matthew: “Behold my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom I delight; I shall place my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles” (Mt 12:18; Is 42:1). We apply this prophecy to the Savior on whom the Spirit of the Lord rested, meaning that he made his eternal dwelling in him… As John the Baptist testifies, he descended to remain always upon him: “I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from the sky and remain upon him. I did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain, he is the one who will baptize with the holy Spirit'”… This Spirit is called “a Spirit of wisdom and understanding, a Spirit of counsel and of strength, a Spirit of knowledge, reverence and fear of the Lord” (Is 11:2)… He is the one and only source of all gifts.

Roman Extraordinary (Tridentine) Daily Readings – rosary,team