Dec 22nd AND Dec 23rd, 2012

Happy 4th Sunday of Advent!!

Such a short 4th week this year...just one day long!

My apologies...A Christmas party and a very busy day caused me to miss posting yesterday's Antiphon! So today you get two. :) Praise the Lord!

Dec 22 - O King of the gentiles and their desired One, the cornerstone that makes both one: come, and deliver man, whom you formed out of the dust of the earth. (No reflection today, but you can find the chant music/Latin HERE!)

Dec 23 - O Emmanuel, God with us, our King and lawgiver, the expected of the nations and their Savior: come to save us, O Lord our God. (No reflection today, but you can find the chant music/Latin HERE!)

A few things going on in yesterday's antiphon...O King of the gentiles....Jesus was is typically called the King of the Jews, as He is the King, Lord/Messiah they have been waiting for. Here we see Him referred to as the King of the gentiles, no non-Jews, as well! He is the cornerstone, or foundation of all the nations on Earth, and indeed, everyone's savior.  We cry to Him, who formed us all in the first place, to come and save us from this mess of sin and darkness that we have gotten ourselves into.

For today's, the last of the O Antiphons...O Emmanuel.  Emmanuel means "God with us", so the first part is simply a repeating of the phrase. Jesus, our King and lawgiver...He came to save ALL the nations! We know we need help from sin and death, although many might not know that what, or who, they are hoping for is actually Jesus. The Savior. He comes to save us...Rejoice! :)

The O Antiphons, while great prayers to meditate on before Christmas, also contain a hidden message! The picture above contains the 7 names of Christ found in the antiphons, in the original Latin, the official language of the Catholic Church. In order, they are Sapientia (Wisdom), Adonai (Lord), Radix (Root), Clavis (Key), Oriens (Dawn), Rex (King), and Emmanuel (Emmanuel).  If you take the first letters of each of those names, and work back words, you get EROCRAS, or "ero cras,"... which is a Latin phrase meaning "I will be (there) tomorrow."  And tomorrow...Christmas Eve night, is when we celebrate the Birth of Christ...Beautiful!

I love being Catholic. :)

Be Catholic.
Be Holy!

Dec 21st, 2012

December 21st! The end of the world? False! Matthew 24:36...look it up. :) We know neither the day nor the time. So take courage, and keep living radically for Jesus Christ! :) Praise the Lord!

Today is also the Winter Solstice...the shortest day of the year!

 

Things only get brighter from here! How fitting that this day happens so close to Christmas, when we celebrate the Light of the World coming to Earth. :) This theme is also reflected in the Antiphon for today. Check it out:

Dec 21st - O dawn of the east, brightness of light eternal, and sun of justice: come, and enlighten those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.

Dawn of the east...the sun...the SON! He comes to cast out sin and darkenss and death! What hope we have in Christ! Pray that He may enter your own sin and darkness...He will heal you. Be prepared, though, to be used by Him in wonderous ways! He will use you to your full potential to help others defeat their own darkness...what an adventure life with Christ is. :) Praise the Lord!

Check out a deeper reflection HERE again by Fr Z.

And...

Be Holy.

Dec 20th 2012

So much snow today! Praise the Lord!



Dec 20th - "O Key of David, and scepter of the house of Israel, who opens and no man shuts, who shuts and no man opens: come, and lead forth the captive who sits in the shadows from his prison."

Christmas is so close! But we must not miss out on the graces of these last few days of Advent. The O Antiphons continue.  Today's mentions Christ as the "Key of David."  David being King David of the Old Testament.  David was Jesse's son...and Jesse was mentioned in yesterday's antiphon! This is family that Jesus came from, as we know from both the prophets, as well as the geneology of Christ found in the Gospel of Matthew 1:1-17.

Jesus as the Key of David...He can both open and close doors in our lives...whatever He wants! This is BEAUTIFUL! God is leading us. We might not understand or like the doors that open or close...but we must keep in mind that God is leading us somewhere. He has a plan for us, a mission, for each one of us. If we pray, pay attention, and keep seeking holiness, we will find and fulfill that plan. And because it is given by God, it will be the absolute best plan for us in this life, leading us to life in the next. Praise the Lord!

But even deeper meaning...Remember in the Gospel when Jesus gives St. Peter the keys to the kingdom? Jesus is that Key! St. Peter, the first pope, was given that Key. Jesus Christ founded the Catholic Church, and promised to be with us until the end of the age. Mmm. Check out more reflection related to that idea, again by Father Z, HERE!

In other news, this is coming up soon!!! Invite friends!

Be Holy.

Dec 19th 2012

We continue with our O Antiphons as we get closer and closer to Christmas...The third one of the Seven:

Dec 19th - "O Root of Jesse, that stands for an ensign of the people, before whom the kings keep silence and unto whom the Gentiles shall make supplication: come, to deliver us, and tarry not.." Reflection by Father Z - HERE! Read it! It helps so much to understand the true meaning behind these verses! :)

This antiphon happens to be one of my FAVORITE verses in the song O Come O Come Emmanuel, especially in the version linked below. The verse starts at 2:02. Take a listen!

Simply beautiful. Our Church is so rich with sacredness!

In other news...huge snow storm coming towards St. Francis tonight!!

Be safe...
Be Holy.

Dec 18th

Wow, I've missed almost all of Advent!! Shoot...

Hopefully all of you have been having a blessed season of preparation for the celebration of Christ's birth!! I love Advent...the cold weather, the snow(sometimes), the reflective and meditative music, the simplicity, the candles...all of it!

We're already in the third week of Advent, which is our week for JOY! Kid of a "we're halfway there!" to the season. We're reminded that Christ coming to earth is a JOYFUL thing. "Rejoice! Again I say, rejoice!" (Phil 4:4). That's why the candle is rose colored instead of purple...it's JOY!

Another pretty cool feature of the third week of Advent, is that we start the ancient tradition of the "O Antiphons." Every day for the 7 days leading up to Christmas, there is a specific antiphon, or verse, about Christ coming to save us. You are probably more familiar with these verses than you think, as they have been turned into a song...O Come O Come Emmanuel! Each verse starts with an Old Testament name of Christ, then continues with a fervent prayer for Christ to come and save us from our sin and darkness. Powerful stuff!

Here are yesterday's and today's, with links to where you can learn more about them. Read up on it! It's so cool!! Over the next week, I will continue to post those antiphons so you can pray and meditate along with the universal Church...who has used these antiphons for close to 1500 years!

Dec 17th - "O Wisdom, who came from the mouth of the Most High, reaching from end to end and ordering all things mightily and sweetly: come, and teach us the way of prudence." Reflection HERE!

Dec 18th - "O Lord and Ruler the house of Israel, who appeared to Moses in the flame of the burning bush and gave him the law on Sinai: come, and redeem us with outstretched arms." Reflection HERE!

Beautiful.

Be Holy.