| Fri Dec 19 | am: 40, 54 pm: 51 | Zech 7:8-8:8 | Rev 5:6-14 | Matt 25:14-30 |
ON THE LITURGICAL CALENDAR: St. Nemesius of Alexandria, Martyr, 250 A.D Nemesius was charged with stealing, but later he was found innocent. When the authorities realized he was a Christian, St. Nemesius was tortured and then burned alive and executed for his faith during the reign of Emperor Trajanus Decius.
Third O Antiphon: O Root of Jesse
LATIN: O radix Jesse, qui stas in signum populorum, super quem continebunt reges os suum, quem gentes deprecabuntur: veni ad liberandum nos, iam noli tardare.
ENGLISH: Come, Flower of Jesse’s stem, sign of God’s love for all his people: save us without delay.O Come, thou Rod of Jesse, free thine own from Satan’s tyranny; from depths of hell thy people save, and give them victory o’er the grave
SYMBOLISM In the O Antiphons today, we recall and pray O Root of Jesse, thus recalling the OT imagery where the Jesse Tree represents Jesus’ family tree as seen in Isaiah 11:1, in which Jesus is referred to as a shoot coming up from the stump of Jesse, the father of David. So this day we pray O Root of Jesse, standing as an ensign before the peoples, before whom all kings are mute, to whom the nations will do homage.
BIBLICAL MEDITATION – From the Psalter today, we pray Psalm 51, which calls us on Friday ( as the church does on all Fridays) to examine our hearts and souls and to think about sin is to using the church’s historical categories of commission and omission. If we have any self-awareness, we typically are conscious of the things that we have done intentionally or directly. Sadly for us, we tend to focus on our sins of commission almost exclusively, but the problem is that in sins of omission, we have refused to act, when we didn’t respond, when we didn’t commit, to love, honor, and serve the Lord.
In this holiday season, let us be mindful that there are two dimensions to restoring our relationship with God: forgiving our sins and restoring our relationship. The same holds true in our personal relationships, as there are times when we hurt another person. We say hurtful things, we go behind their back, and we betray them. On those occasions when we have the grace to confess what we have done to another, if our friend is merciful, they forgive what we have done. They canceled our debt. The hurt we have caused is wiped off the slate. But the next step is key with God and others… “sustain in me a willing spirit or a right spirit within me.”
PRAYER: O Christ, living sign of the Father’s love, we adore You as the center of our lives. You are our model for grace, truth, and living in the light of the Father. Be our strength in times of sorrow and trouble; be our joy in times of sadness; be our light in the darkness of sin and our troubled world. We are in awe of Your Holy Presence. May we rejoice and share the signs of Your coming with one another. Amen.
Spiritual Discipline/Activity – Put out a Jesse Tree in your home or office, a small tree made of evergreen branches. On these are placed symbolic ornaments, with each representing a prophecy foretelling Christ. With your families or small groups, you can also create ornaments that represent the monogram symbols of Christianity.
ANCIENT WISDOM/PRESENT GRACE:“Advent is concerned with that very connection between memory and hope which is so necessary to man. Advent intends to awaken the most profound and basic emotional memory within us, namely, the memory of the God who became a child. This is a healing memory; it brings hope.” —Benedict XVI, Bishop of Rome. SONG OF THE HEART, SONG OF THE SEASON: Root of Jesse