O Clavis, O Key of David

~~~ Fourth Sunday of Advent ~~~

~~~ Micah 5:1-4A ~~~ Psalm 80 ~~~ 

~~~ Hebrews 10:5-10 ~~~ Luke 1:39-45 ~~~ 

O Key of David

"I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David; 

he shall open, and no one shall shut; he shall shut, 

and no one shall open." Isaiah 22:22

After the angels visit both Elizabeth and Mary,

both women come to embrace their role in God's plan.

Blessed are you among women, 

and blessed is the fruit of your womb.

And how does this happen to me, 

that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

This is a beautiful picture because

Elizabeth represents those who are not in their prime of life.

She represents those who appear to have little to offer.

Then we see the young vibrant woman, Mary.

She represents all that youth has to offer.

She is enthusiastic, eager, energetic,

full of life.

God worked both of these chosen women into his salvation plan.

Their is a place for you in God's plan too.

No matter our age or gender we have a part in God's plan.

Elizabeth and Mary both had many reasons to doubt

 what the angels were saying to them.

Nevertheless they were willing to believe

 in the miracle of possibilities.

Are you willing to believe in the possibility 

of miracles in your life?

We each have a unique place in God's plan for our life.

No one else could have taken the place of Elizabeth or Mary.

God chose them to be vital participants in our salvation.

Young or old;

you are a vital part of the living Body of Christ.

Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.

May it be done to me according to your word.

May the Lord Bless you

through the miracles in your life.

We eagerly wait for the coming of the 

Key of David.

~~~Peace~~~

JOY

to the World!

O Radix Jesse

~~~ Judges 13:2-7, 24-25A ~~~ Psalm 71 ~~~ Luke 1:5-25 ~~~ 

O Radix Jesse!

O Root of Jesse!

"A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse, 

and a branch shall grow out of his roots." Isaiah 11:1

Jesse was the father of King David.

He prophesied that the Messiah would come from

 the house of David and would be born in Bethlehem.

Though you are barren and have had no children,

yet you will conceive and bear a son. 

...the boy shall be consecrated to God from the womb,

until the day of his death.

Samson was blessed by the Lord from his conception.

His parents had been unable to conceive.

God chose the moment in time for Samson to be born.

...this boy is to be consecrated to God from the womb. 

The salvation plans of God were evident even in the Old Testament.

As we get closer to the birth of Jesus

 we hear about the unexpected 

conception of John the Baptist.

His birth was announced to Elizabeth by an angel.

Just as the birth of Samson was announced to his mother.

Jesus is our tree of life.

In the Garden of Eden God placed the tree of good and evil.

Eating the fruit of the tree marred us with original sin.

Jesus was born of a woman who

 was protected from this blemish of original sin.

Goodness comes forth from this shoot of Jesse...Jesus.

It is through Jesus that we live and breathe and have our being.

Come, O Root of Jesse!

Come to save us without delay.

We wait for his salvation Blessings.

Peace

~~~JOY~~~

to the World!

O Adonai! O Lord!

~~~ Jeremiah 23:5-8 ~~~ Psalm 72 ~~~ Matthew 1:18-25 ~~~

O Adonai!

O Lord!

 I will raise up a righteous shoot to David;

As king he shall reign and govern wisely,

he shall do what is just and right in the land.

O Adonai, 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.

We pray for the coming of the the who is justice.

We long for the one who holds the final judgment.

Come Lord Jesus, Come
teach us to follow your leadership.
You alone know the path of salvation.

...the angel of the Lord appeared to him
 in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David...

God chose Joseph to be the head, the leader, of the family of Jesus.
Joseph was of the house of David...thus fulfilling
the prophecies of Isaiah.
Joseph was the legal guardian of Jesus.
Joseph was the human father of the human Jesus.

Together Mary and Joseph would
come to know Jesus as their Messiah too. 

Their role as parents would give way to
 the leadership of their Son, Jesus.

Come, O Come,
O Adonai.

You are the One who comes,
the Leader of the House of Israel.

Dear Lord,
bless us with your Divine Leadership
as we struggle with our human frailties.

Peace
~~~JOY~~~
to the World!

O Sapientia, O Wisdom

~~~ Genesis 49:2, 8-10 ~~~ Psalm 72 ~~~ Matthew 1:1-17 ~~~

O Come, O Come Emmanuel!

The last seven days of Advent the church meditates on 

seven short verses called the O Antiphons.

In the first, O Sapientia, we are taken into the recesses

 of eternity to address Wisdom, the Word of God.

We hear the proclamation of the genealogy of Jesus.

Wisdom comes down to us from the time of creation.

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ,

the son of David, the son of Abraham.

In effect we see that Jesus has the required credentials

 to be the Messiah.

He is born into the lineage

 spoken by the prophets.

O Wisdom of our God Most High,

guiding creation with power and love:

come to teach us the path of knowledge!

Part of the Vesper Prayers, evening prayer,
is the beautiful words of the Magnificat.
Beginning this evening the antiphons
will be the the O Antiphons.
These antiphons surround Mary's words
of accepting her roll in God's salvation plan.

Each O Antiphon heralds
  the coming of the Messiah with increasing urgency.

We longingly await the coming of the Lord.

In the Gospel of Matthew we are reminded
today of the humanity of Jesus.

His ancestry can be traced back for fourteen generations
just as the prophets proclaimed.

Each of theses antiphons links back
to the prophecy of Isaiah of the coming of the Messiah.

Can you trace your genealogy
back for that many generations? 

We have come to value our own family tree.

In the time of Jesus your lineage
 was very important for many reasons.

Jesus took on humanity while retaining his divinity.
Jesus is the second person of the
Most Holy Trinity.

Come, O Wisdom,
teach us your ways...
Bless us with your understanding.

Peace
JOY
to the World!

Share the Good News

~~~ Isaiah 45:6C-8, 18, 21C-25 ~~~ Psalm 85 ~~~ Luke 7:18B-23 ~~~

Go and tell John what you have seen and heard...

I sometimes wonder why the people of Biblical times 

could not agree that Jesus was the Messiah.

Jesus was speaking and healing in plain sight for all to see.

When you are a witness to something out of the ordinary
do you keep it to yourself or do you tell others?

So often we are quick to repeat gossip...
Jesus is instructing the two disciples sent by John
to share all that they had seen and heard.

I will hear what God proclaims;
the LORD –for he proclaims peace to his people.

All that can be reported about Jesus is good.
He comes bring love, peace, and forgiveness.

Raise your voice and tell the Good News

We too are being invited to tell the Good News.
The Good News of our salvation.
The Good News from a God who loves us.

...the blind regain their sight,
the lame walk,
lepers are cleansed,
the deaf hear, the dead are raised, 
the poor have the good news proclaimed to them. 

It is our vocation to proclaim the Good News.
Do not keep quiet.
Do not be shy.
Share what you know to be true
 about our loving God.

Share the message with your words and your actions.
We are responsible for continuing the spread
of the Good News.

Are you up to the challenge?
Tell at least one person every day...
'Jesus loves you'.

Say it until it feels comfortable.
Soon it will become a wonderful habit.

May you be Blessed with Peace.

JOY
to the World!

Cries of the Poor

~~~ Zephaniah  3:1-2, 9-13 ~~~ Psalm 34 ~~~ Matthew 21:28-32 ~~~

The Lord hears the cry of the poor.

The other day as we were sitting in the doctor's waiting room
a woman came in being pushed in a wheelchair by her husband.
The woman appeared to be in good health, but
she was quietly moaning as if in pain.

We hear small children crying when they are hungry or tired.
We cry over losses in our own lives.
We even shed tears from being filled with joy.
Sometimes we cry for no apparent reason.

Today the psalmist writes of the Lord hearing the cry of the poor.

There are many ways we can be 'poor'.

So many times the cry of the poor goes unnoticed.
So many times their cry is so small we cannot hear it.
So many times their cry is a silent cry...
a cry from their heart.

The cry of the poor is always heard by the Lord.
He gives their cry a voice.
It is the Lord that makes their cry
touch the hearts of others.

It is the Lord that tugs at our heart strings
causing us to also hear the cry.

We have the choice to ignore the cry.
We have the choice to turn and walk away.
We have the choice to judge the one who cries.
We have the choice to hear the cry.

The Lord responds to the cry of the poor.
He responds with love and compassion.
The Lord responds with his grace...
he gives them hope.

When we respond to the cry of the poor
we are responding in communion with the Lord.

We must respond with our actions not just our voices.

During this season of love remember to hear the cry of the poor...
remember to take action and respond.

Blessed..
 Remembering to hear the cry of the poor.

~~~Peace~~~
Joy
to the World!

Heavenly Origin

~~~ Saint John of the Cross ~~~

~~ Numbers 24:2-7, 15-17A ~~~ Psalm 25:4-5AB, 6 AND 7BC, 8-9 ~~

~~~ Matthew 21:23-27 ~~~

Was it of heavenly or of human origin?

Whenever we draw near to God 

we experience his peace and joy...

we experience the goodness of the Lord.

When we are near to the Lord we recognize 

that our experience is not of human origin.

It is a true blessing when we encounter one

 who is strengthened from heavenly origins. 

For this person knows what it means to be near God.

I see him, though not now;

I behold him, though not near:

A star shall advance from Jacob,

and a staff shall rise from Israel.

Through out the ages the saints

 have shared this connection with heaven.

They knew the faith that sustained them came from above.

The saints see God with heavenly eyes 

not with their human eyes.

The prophets expressed to the people

what God had revealed to them.

They opened themselves to a heavenly connection.

They opened themselves to this connection with God

 in spite of their desire for human connection.

All that is good originates in heaven.

All good that we do as humans comes to us from above.

The more goodness we spread the closer 

we are to the heavenly source.

The prophets proclaimed the heavenly birth of Jesus.

The angels came from heaven announcing to the Blessed Mother 

that she was to be the mother of the Messiah.

The stars in the heavens led the way to the manger.

The light of the birth of Jesus

brought the heavenly joy down to Earth for all of us.

Blessings as we wait for the Heavenly Birth of Jesus.

~~~Peace~~~

JOY 

to the World!