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The ornaments to print out for the Jesse Tree
Understanding the  Jesse Tree

Wednesday of the Second Week of Advent
Joshua 6:1-7,15,16,20 (NRSV)

Now Jericho was shut up inside and out because of the Israelites; no one came out and no one went in. The Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have handed Jericho over to you, along with its king and soldiers. You shall march around the city, all the warriors circling the city once. Thus you shall do for six days, with seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. On the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, the priests blowing the trumpets. When they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, as soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and all the people shall charge straight ahead.” So Joshua son of Nun summoned the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant, and have seven priests carry seven trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark of the Lord.” To the people he said, “Go forward and march around the city; have the armed men pass on before the ark of the Lord.” …

On the seventh day they rose early, at dawn, and marched around the city in the same manner seven times. It was only on that day that they marched around the city seven times. And at the seventh time, when the priests had blown the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city. So the people shouted, and the trumpets were blown. As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpets, they raised a great shout, and the wall fell down flat; so the people charged straight ahead into the city and captured it.

I think we must admit that for people without faith, what we do as people of faith may seem very strange to them.  Our basic stance is that God loves us, cares for us and is involved in our lives.  Therefore, His divine revelation and His message to humanity is true and right.  However, given humanity’s fallen nature, there is a rebellious spirit because of the veil of sin that blocks our ability to see the truth clearly.   Therefore, we judge things on our own limited view and make decisions without knowing all.  More importantly, God’s ways seem strange to us because we do not have the whole truth.  This is played out time and again in the relationship between parents and children.  Children often do not have the bigger picture and so do not believe the wisdom of adults who should know more of the truth in life.  Just as children see parents' ways as being strange, God’s children can easily see God’s ways as being strange. Joshua’s experience of capturing Jericho by just the blowing of the seven trumpets on the seventh day, a sacred number, may at first seem a strange way of doing battle with the enemy.  However, if it is about God doing the work and not us and trusting in the ways of God, it makes sense.  Joshua needed to have faith in God and that God's work would work.  Joshua takes no credit in his success in that he knows that God has done it.  This seems to be strange for people without faith, but for people of faith, God works in our lives.  Jesus coming at Christmas in the Incarnation through the Annunciation shows that our salvation is the work of God and not by our own efforts.

After Moses died, God choose Joshua to be their leader to take them into the promised land.  They encountered many challenges and battles in their new land. One battle took place at a city named Jericho which was surrounded by a gigantic wall. God told Joshua he would give them the city, but they would defeat the city in a strange way. The walls would fall with the blowing of trumpets.  God's plan and promise may have seemed strange but he was at work and Joshua trusted him. The trumpet reminds us to trust God and His power to keep His promises.

Discuss how the world sees the ways of believers as being strange.  Talk about things we do as Catholics because of our trust in God that others who do not believe can easily make fun of us.  It takes a strong person to believe today, because believers need to have trust in God in face of criticism and to remain faithful in times when they do not understand it fully.  Share with each other how to stay steadfast in faith.