O Emmanuel

December 23rd is the last of the O Antiphons. As I mentioned ealier the O Antiphons are the verses to the song: O come, O come Emmanuel, which we have been singing for the past 4 weeks of Advent. In our song book the first verse and the last verse are based on the title emmanuel. Here is the Old Testament passage we get this title from:


"Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel." Isaiah 7:14

The title 'Emmanuel' means: "God is with us". That is exactly what we celebrate at Christmas. Christmas is not about gifts, or being friendly, or accepting others, or all the other sentimental things that the latest Christmas Special celebrates. Christmas is about the INCARNATION of God. The Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us. God becoming Human so that humans can become God. Now isn't a radical statement. That is Christmas. Here is the Liturgical antiphon for Dec. 23:

O Emmanuel, our king and our lawgiver,
the hope of the nations and their Saviour:
Come and save us, O Lord our God.


Peace

O Rex Gentium

The Old Testament title for Jesus on December 22 is: O Rex Gentium, or in English: O King of the nations.
Scripturally, the new King will bring Peace. I love this passage from Isaiah. As you think of Jesus as King, meditate on this.

"He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore." Isaiah 2:4

Here is the Liturgical Antiphone for Today:

O King of the nations, and their desire,
the cornerstone making both one:
Come and save the human race,
which you fashioned from clay.


Peace

O Oriens "O Rising Sun"

The Old Testament Title for Jesus for December 21 is "O Oriens". This has many ways it could be translated: O Rising Sun, O Dayspring, O Morning Star, or sometimes O Dawn.

This is a beautiful reflection because the Rising sun has always been a symbol of the Resurrection of Christ. In fact, in worship Christians initially always faced EAST when they worshipped at Mass. Before 1970 people would say that the priest said Mass with his back to the people. This was missing the entire point. What was really happening was the priest was facing the SAME direction as the people. All the People were facing east to the rising Sun, the sign of the Resurrection. All the early Churches were built to face east.

Later on when churches where build to fit into city planning they no longer faced east, however the priest and the people continued to face in the same direction to worship God.

Here is the Antiphon for today:
O Rising Sun,
splendour of light eternal and sun of righteousness:
Come and enlighten those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.


peace

O Clavis David

This means: O Key of David. It is a title for the Messiah from the Old Testament. It is the O Antiphon for today. Here is the Full Antiphon. Use it in your prayer today:


O Key of David and sceptre of the House of Israel;
you open and no one can shut;
you shut and no one can open:
Come and lead the prisoners from the prison house,
those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.


peace

Homily Series on the Liturgy

Homily on the Liturgy

Week 3: December 19, 2010

WHO DO WE WORSHIP?: GOD INCARNATE

1. At Mass we encounter the God of Glory and Majesty. Since we encounter God, it is the source of all we do as Christians.

     A. Since we encounter God at Mass, it also becomes the Summit, the goal of Christian life.

     B. As the source and summit of the Christian life, Mass forms us into the body of Christ.

     C. I am doing a Homily series on the Mass. We continue to talk about the liturgy today.

2. Last week, we began with the question: Who do we worship? I spoke of God as Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. When we speak of God in this way he is difficult to understand. He may even seem a little distant.

     A. God knows this, so he revealed himself in a much more intimate way. This is what we celebrate at Christmas.

     B. The Second divine person of the most holy Trinity was to be born into time and space and take on our human nature. St. John described this as the “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”

     C. However, we are more familiar with that image of Mary and Joseph in a stable holding a little baby. What is more intimate than a little baby.

     D. The mystery of that little baby is called: The Incarnation. This week, when we ask the question ‘who do we worship’ the answer is: At Mass we worship the incarnate God, who took on our human nature.

     E. That little baby is the Son, the second divine person of the most holy Trinity. He is fully human. He is also fully God. This is the mystery of Christmas.

3. Remember, Sin separates us from God. There is an infinite gap between God and humanity because of sin. It is impossible for human beings to overcome that gap.

     A. In God’s infinite wisdom, God himself goes across that gap. He becomes fully human, and then as both God and human he brings his humanity over the gap and back into heaven at the Ascension.

     B. Jesus MUST be God to accomplish this, but then he must be human for us to be redeemed. Only What Jesus became is redeemed.

     C. This is what Christianity is all about. It is about the Incarnation. This is why when we say the creed and we come to the Line: “By the power of the Holy Spirit he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became Man” WE Bow. It is that important.

4. The incarnation is also about God revealing himself to us fully. We have no image of “God of Glory and Majesty”. In the Old Testament his presence was in smoke and pillars of fire.

     A. They were not even allowed to make image of God because there were NO images to make. God was invisible.

     B. But since Jesus is God he was able to say to his disciples: “If you know me, then you will also know the Father.” Then later he said: “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”

     C. God reveals himself IN HISTORY. God is NOT “Long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away”. Rather, he was born in the days of King Herod, during the reign of Tiberius, when Quirinius was the governor of Syria.

     D. People saw him, walked with him, talked with him, touched him, ate with him.
     E. Now we have an image of God when we pray: When we pray at Christmas we will imagine the baby Jesus. When we pray with scripture, we imagine Jesus in the story.

     F. During Lent, when we pray we imagine Jesus on the cross. We can even imagine Jesus ascending into heaven.

     G. With the incarnation, we now have an image of God. This is why early Christians began painting pictures of ‘Jesus the good shepherd’ in their cemeteries.

     H. God himself made an image of God: Jesus. So now we human beings also began making pictures of Jesus. We can now imagine what God looks like in our minds, so Christians began to have pictures of him.

5. Today we ask again: When we come to Mass, who do we worship. Yes, we worship God as Trinity: God of Glory and Majesty.

     A. But God came into the world. He was born in time and space. He became human. He became one of us. He understands us.

     B. He knows what we experience. God is NOT distant, but he is so close he knows us better than we know ourselves.

     C. This is important to Mass because he became human. He became part of his creation, which means that CREATION is good.

     D. He became part of creation, and so we know that he can use creation for our salvation.

     E. When we see Jesus, we see God. That helps us to understand how God works. He will work through things, and he will work through people.

     F. Because Jesus became visible, we can now visualize him in art.

     G. All of these facts will be important for understanding the Mass.

     H. For now know this, Turn to Jesus, look at Jesus, Know Jesus, and you will know the Father. Come, Let us Worship!

O Radix Jesse

This means: O Root of Jesse. It is a title for Jesus from the Old Testament. Jesse was the Father of King David. The first reading from this Sunday we will hear that the Messiah will come from Bethlehem of the line of King David, from Jesse. Here are some passages from scripture:
Isaiah 11:1 "A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots."

Isaiah 11:10 "On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious."

In many Cathedrals there are stained glass windows with Jesse at the bottom with a tree growing out of his side. At the top of the tree in the window is Jesus.

Here is the Antiphon for today:

O Root of Jesse, standing as a sign among the peoples;
before you kings will shut their mouths,
to you the nations will make their prayer:
Come and deliver us, and delay no longer.

peace

O Adonai

Each Day from Dec. 17 to Dec 23 has its own liturgical Antiphon of a Title of Jesus from the OLD TESTAMENT. Since each Antiphon begins with "O", they are called the "O Antiphons". The Title for today is: O Adonai. This is Hebrew from "O Lord". Since the Name of God (YHWH) is SO holy nobody was allowed to say it verbally, so when it came up in the biblical text they would say: Adonai (Lord) in reference to God.


In the New Testament the title Lord was given to Jesus. In Greek this would have been "Kyrios". In the Liturgy we will often sing: Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison, Kyrie elesion: Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy.
I would encourage you to pray with the antiphon, and meditaton on Jesus as Lord. Here is the Antiphon:

O Lord, and leader of the House of Israel,
who appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush
and gave him the law on Sinai:
Come and redeem us with an outstretched arm.


It is good to read this in light of Isaiah 33:22 "For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our ruler, the Lord is our king; he will save us."
Peace