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Drawing Near...
The air is thick with expectation. We enter this story with awe and hope. Just like Mary and Joseph, we are waiting in anticipation for the mystery to be further revealed. We are preparing for God's presence among us. The mystery of God clothed in helpless human flesh is at the heart of faith. Like Mary, we must humbly receive his presence and salvation.
The "O" Antiphons
Many Western Christian traditions make use of the "O" antiphons during this final week of Advent. These prayers, or congregational responsorials, are recited beginning on December 17. Each prayer addresses Jesus using different names like "O Radiant Dawn" and "O Wisdom." The Advent hymn "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" contains words from each of the "O" antiphons. The tradition of singing and reciting these prayers has been with the church for well over 1500 years.
December 17: O Sapientia (O Wisdom)
December 18: O Adonai (O Lord)
December 19: O Radix Jesse (O Root of Jesse)
December 20: O Clavis David (O Key of David)
December 21: O Oriens (O Dayspring)
December 22: O Rex Gentium (O King of the Nations)
December 23: O Emmanuel (O With Us is God)
Los Posadas
Hispanic cultures in Mexico and the USA take time this week to re-enact the story of Mary and Joseph as they search for lodging and a place to give birth. A couple may dress up and go door to door in their neighborhood asking for a place to board for the night. They knock on the door and are then turned away after requesting posada ...a place to stay. This drama ends at a home designated to let them inside. Upon entering, carols are sung and the story is read from the Bible. Sorrow begins to turn to joy, even as all are reminded that the Savior was turned away before his birth.
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Advent Quote
“Advent is the time of promise; it is not yet the time of fulfillment. We are still in the midst of everything and in the logical inexorability and relentlessness of destiny.…Space is still filled with the noise of destruction and annihilation, the shouts of self-assurance and arrogance, the weeping of despair and helplessness. But round about the horizon the eternal realities stand silent in their age-old longing. There shines on them already the first mild light of the radiant fulfillment to come. From afar sound the first notes as of pipes and voices, not yet discernable as a song or melody. It is all far off still, and only just announced and foretold. But it is happening, today.”
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Hear us, Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock. You who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh. Awaken your might; come and save us. Restore us, O God; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved...
Commentary on Psalm 80
Augustine, Calvin, Spurgeon,
John Paul II, Jerome Creach
Audio
Psalm 80, Isaiah 7,
Romans 1, Matthew 1
Spotify Playlist
Psalm 80
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Lectionary Resources
"Do not speculate beyond the text. Do not require of it something more than what it simply says. Do not ask, “But precisely how was it that the Spirit accomplished this in a virgin?” For even when nature is at work, it is impossible fully to explain the manner of the formation of the person. How then, when the Spirit is accomplishing miracles, shall we be able to express their precise causes? Lest you should weary the writer or disturb him by continually probing beyond what he says, he has indicated who it was that produced the miracle. He then withdraws from further comment. “I know nothing more,” he in effect says, “but that what was done was the work of the Holy Spirit.” -Chrysostom
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