Journey into Wisdom

Saturday of the Third Week of Advent
December 17, 2022

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/121722.cfm

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we begin the recitation of the O Antiphons.

No doubt many of you, like me, love these beautiful verses for any number of reasons:

First off, they alert us that we are very close to the astounding miracle of Christmas!
They capture, in a very simple way, the riches of the Hebrew Scriptures which foretold and longed for the Messiah.
The dramatic “O” introducing each one conveys the depth of our own longing and “O”penness to God’s grace.

The O Antiphons are Magnificat antiphonies used at Vespers of the last seven days of Advent. They are also used as the Alleluia Verse during the daily Mass.

Each antiphon is a name of Christ, one of his attributes mentioned in Scripture. They are:

17 December: O Sapientia (O Wisdom)
18 December: O Adonai (O Lord)
19 December: O Radix Jesse (O Root of Jesse)
20 December: O Clavis David (O Key of David)
21 December: O Oriens (O Dayspring)
22 December: O Rex Gentium (O King of the Nations)
23 December: O Emmanuel (O With Us is God)

(information above from Wikipedia)

We begin today with a heartfelt plea to God to fill our world with a Wisdom that orders all things and teaches us prudence.

O, how our world needs this prayer to be answered. How we need to return to a Wisdom rooted in truth, justice and mutual love!

Let us pray this prayer together today, dear friends, by opening our hearts like the wide space of an “O”. Let our hearts be ready to receive, on behalf of the world, the transforming gift of Jesus – given on Christmas, and on every day of our lives.