Wednesday 20 December

Dec 20, 2023 by Jill

ON THE LITURGICAL CALENDAR:  St. Ursiancus, Monk, Abbot and Missionary 625 AD

Irish monastic associated with  Saint Columban,  Ursicinus followed the footsteps of his friend and entered the mission field making his way to bring the Gospel to Switzerland establishing a monastery at St. Ursanne in the Swiss Juras. This became the base for missionary efforts among the local pagan tribes of the Alamanni. Known as the first missionary of Bavaria. Ursinicus lived in his later years  as a hermit in the Valley of the Doubs until he died in 625

BIBLICAL MEDITATION – This Gospel seems a bit odd to be read at the tail end of Lent but it is a message worth repeating. Mark puts it right in front of the reader in the opening of his Gospel telling us for whom we are to prepare our hearts and lives—the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Jesus, God’s Son, is coming. If we do not have the words to state, the reason for the season we can just read these powerful words. This is not a mere celebrity whose presence we are marking or the return of a long-lost friend. This is God himself, the Father’s Son, coming to dwell among his people and to save them.

John the Baptist reminds us that this Advent is a time to prepare our hearts, to identify those places where there is no room for God, and to change that in our lives. John calls us  to turn away from those experiences and  get ready to celebrate Christmas in the Spirit of Preparation and Renewal

.PRAYER:  In thy strength, O Lord, the just person  shall exult, and in thy salvation he shall rejoice exceedingly.  We beseech Thee, O Lord, that every thought, word, and action, that we offer, may honor you as we await your coming. We as this in your name as the one who lives and reigns as Triune God, world without end. Amen.-

SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE/ACTIVITY:  In the spirit of the saint we observe today, travel to a new location you have never been to during the day and stake it out as a place to read and pray the Christmas story and see the response around you.

-O Antiphon’s of the Day – O Key of David

LATIN : O Clavis David, et sceptrum domus Israel: qui aperis et nemo claudit; claudis et nemo aperit: veni et educ vinctum de domo carceris, sedentem in tenebris et umbra mortis).

ENGLISH: Come, Key of David, opening the gates of God’s eternal kingdom: free the prisoners of darkness! O come, thou Key of David, come and open wide our heavenly home; make safe the way that leads on high, and close the path to misery.)

SYMBOLISM: The key and scepter are traditional symbols of kingly power and authority. Christ, the anointed one, is the heir of David and possessor of the kingdom. Jesus himself also made use of this symbol, showing the prophetic relationship of the earthly kingdom of David to the kingdom of God. For some scholars, this image of the Key of David uses typology to unlock sealed and secret prophecies, to reveal the mysteries of God, and to hide these secret things of God from the natural nation of Israel that saw only with eyes and heard only with ears. There are some today who wish to link the Key of David between the Key of David and the keys of the Kingdom. Certainly, we are all given the Key in so far that we are given the keys to unlock the doors of our souls under the New Covenant and this unlock a pattern of discipleships for all.

ANCIENT WISDOM/PRESENT GRACE: “Do not say, “This happened by chance, while this came to be of itself.” In all that exists, there is nothing disorderly, nothing indefinite, nothing without purpose, nothing by chance … How many hairs are on your head? God will not forget one of them. Do you see how nothing, even the smallest thing, escapes the gaze of God? ”. – St. Basil the Great

SONG FOR THE DAY – John the Baptist  by The Ball Brothers

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