For those in prison…and for those imprisoned by any deadly sins in their lives…we look with hope and expectation toward Jesus, the Key of David…in the fourth O Antiphon that’s prayed during these final days of Advent:
O Key of David,
opening the gates of God’s eternal Kingdom:
come and free the prisoners of darkness!
The third ‘O Antiphon’ in these last days of Advent alludes to salvation history — the promises made to King David, his father Jesse…and all those before and after them who have been waiting (perhaps not so patiently) for their Savior:
O Root of Jesse’s stem,
sign of God’s love for all his people:
come to save us without delay!
The second ‘O Antiphon’ in these last days of Advent invokes Adonai, the Hebrew word for “Lord” or “Lord of Lords”:
O Adonai of ancient Israel,
who showed yourself to Moses in the burning bush,
who gave him the holy law on Sinai mountain:
Come, stretch out your mighty hand to set us free.
Today, we begin the home stretch of our Advent season of anticipation…with the countdown of the ‘O Antiphons’…a thousand-year-old liturgical tradition that will continue through Christmas Eve. So perhaps a holy pause is in order, to savor the first in the series:
O Wisdom of our God Most High,
guiding creation with power and love:
come to teach us the path of knowledge!
I fully expected to do a little dancing inside the prison today. Alas, it was not to be.
At times, I wish Jesus wasn’t quite so good about keeping his promises.
It seems an odd choice, for Pope Francis to make today’s feast the starting point for the Jubilee of Mercy.
Leaving lunch yesterday, a friend mentioned how hard it’s been for him to get Advent to “take” this year.
Would you ever consider adopting Andrew as a spiritual model for the Advent season?
On a whim, I stopped by the grocery store to pick up a frozen turkey breast the other day.
With Us Still 