ADVENT 3: ACACIA

MAGI REST IN THE SHADE [Acacia nilotica]

“I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.
I will put in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive.” (Is 41:19)

Along blazing desert tracts, the acacia tree surely provided cooling shade for the Magi, trekking on as “the star which they had seen in the East went before them” (Matthew 2:9) Dozing under the tree’s canopy of fragrant blossoms, they no doubt dreamed of their journey’s end. 

The Magi treasured this thorny acacia, just as the Israelites had 1400 years before when they employed its durable wood to construct the sacred Ark of the Covenant.

Along our Advent wanderings, God provides the Tree of Life, the Cross of our salvation, a Rest along the way. 

This Cross is the tree of my eternal salvation, nourishing and delighting me. 
I take root in its roots, I am extended in its branches, 
I am delighted by its dews, 
I am fertilized by its spirit as by a refreshing breeze. 
In my tent I am shaded by its shade, 
and fleeing the excessive heat I find this refuge moist with dew. 
Its flowers are my flowers; I am wholly delighted and feast unrestrainedly on its fruits.
This is my nourishment when I am hungry, 
my fountain when I am thirsty,  
my covering when I am stripped…
Its top touches the highest heavens, its roots are planted in the earth and in the midst its giant arms embrace the ever present breaths of air. It is wholly in all things and in all places.

–Pseudo-Hippolytus, Paschal Homily