esperanza...esperar

I would like to reflect on the prophet Isaiah, our first reading today. The prophecy of Isaiah begins with the words, on that day. On that day according to the estimation of biblical experts would be about 750 years more or less, the years spanning the time of Isaiah and Jesus. On that day, Isaiah said, a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse. Jesse is the father of David, the first king of Israel, and the grandfather of Solomon, the son of David through Bathsheba, the second king. These were the best years of Israel, the years when Israel experienced prosperity, the years when the temple was built, the year when the territory of Israel reached its zenith. These were the years spanning the reign of Kings David and Solomon. And people in the time of Isaiah were longing for those good old days, the good old days which, in the time of Isaiah had become a mere stump - the stump of a once powerful, gigantic tree. What was once a great kingdom is nothing more than a stump - isa na gid lang ka ginpulod nga kahoy nga ang nabilin na gid lang amo ang puno nga nagalabaw gamay sa duta. This is what remained of the tree of Jesse .
However, Isaiah prophesied that from this stump, worthless it may seem, a shoot shall sprout, it will sprout and grow again into a large tree so that from its roots a bud shall blossom.


Several months ago we decided to cut the large indian trees lining the facade of the seminary. It was already hiding the building, and coupled with the unpainted main door and its dirty canopy we looked like a haunted house. No wonder, said one teacher, we have so few enrolees. Nobody wants to live in what looks like a haunted house. Jokingly, we also concluded that Indian trees are dimalas because their leaves are pointing downwards which might be the reason why we have such a big deficit. So we cut it and replaced them with royal palms with leaves pointed upwards. Anyway we cut the Indian tree almost to its roots. The problem is it keeps on growing back. Until now, even after several months, we are still cutting the shoots that grow persistently on the stump. The ugly stump, in terrible disrepair, and yet shoots come out, and I believe that if we just leave it as it is, it will grow back in no time to become a big tree again.
This is the hope that Isaiah is stirring among his hearers with. Our situation may be ugly, our lives may be miserable, our nation may be in shambles, but one day a shoot will sprout from this ugly stump. And that shoot will become a tree that will bud forth.
This is the message of advent. It is a message of hope, a message that keeps us longing for that day when all our desires will be fulfilled, when the wrong will be righted, when sin will be replaced by virtue, when love will replace hatred, when war will be replaced by peace. The message of advent is to recover the virtue of hope.
But the prophecy of Isaiah is not just about hope. Esperanza is the spanish word for hope. Its root comes from the spanish word esperar. And what is esperar? Esperar means to wait. To hope means to learn to wait. Kon natisyahan ninyo kadamo na sang mga naga-suicide subong. Nagadamo ang naga-depression. Tanan nagadali magmangaranon with the attitude nga kon makuha man lang sa pahapos mas maayo. That is a problem nowadays.
Fr. Doming told us about a scientific study on the attitudes towards life by those who were breastfed and those who were bottle-fed as an infant. Those who were breastfed grew up to be more patient, more persevering and persistent. Those who were bottled-fed grew up to become more impatient, they grow up with high degree of giving up when obstacles block their way. Why? The study says that when an infant sucks the breast it would take some time for the milk to flow and milk from the breast comes in trickles and not in gulps. For the bottle-fed, the moment you put the bottle on his mouth, milk becomes immediately available. He does not have to wait. There is less struggle, there is less waiting. With this the child is given the impression that life is easy, life is fast, satisfaction is immediate.
For the breastfed however, the child has to get used early in life to some form of struggle to feed himself. He grows up with the impression that life is not easy, it not up for the taking, he grows with the knowledge that satisfaction is not immediate, that he has to learn to wait, that he has to suck harder compared to the bottle-fed. I do not know if this is correct - but the article said it was a research done in twenty years. Esperanza, esperar, hope means to learn to wait. Hulat - for from the ugly stump will grow a shoot and this shoot will bud forth - it will grow on that day - so wait, hulat. Recover hope. Learn to wait. This is the message of Isaiah, the same message of advent. Let us appreciate advent, the act of waiting. It’s not yet christmas. It’s not yet time to put up your christmas trees. Hulat. Let us appreciate the discipline of advent, to learn to wait for in that way we learn to hope - to hope for on that day, to wait for the shoot that will grow from the stump of Jesse.