Advent Prayer Experiences 2016 – Page 3

Daily Advent Prayer Experiences for 2016 by DailyGraces.net

December 19, 2016 – New Life

Published on December 18, 2016December 15, 2016 by KateLeave a comment

O Root of Jesse’s stem,
sign of God’s love for all his people:
come to save us without delay!

Notice how this antiphon doesn’t say “branch of Jesse’s stem” or “flower of Jesse’s stem.” It calls Jesus the root of Jesse’s stem. Jesse was David’s (David and Goliath, aka King David) father. The line of David was to be the line of kings. Isaiah foretold that it would be from the Davidic line that the Messiah would come. We read in the New Testament that Joseph was of the House of David.

But, those familiar with David’s story know that David screwed up. And even though his son, Solomon, was the wisest of men, he too strayed away from God’s laws. The Kingdom of Israel under David and Solomon would not survive and was split into 2 kingdoms, the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah. It wasn’t long before both were conquered by their enemies and taken away from the Promised Land. The tree of Jesse that had flourished was quite literally cut off at the stump.

But again, God is a God of fulfilled promises. Even though the Davidic line was indeed cut off, it was not uprooted. A new green shoot full of life would spring forth – Jesus. Just like in winter how a plant seems to die, come spring new life appears. Even when humanity goes astray and forgets about God, God never for a moment forgets about us. His love for us is eternal and His love for all His people is equal. No one is beneath or outside of God’s love.

When we turn away from God, when we cut ourselves off, God continues to reach out for us, just as the root of Jesse stretched itself outward and upward in the hopes of new life.

*** Please feel free to share your experience, thoughts and offer support to one another in the comments, on Twitter with the #DailyGraces or on the Facebook page.

December 18, 2016 – Lord and Ruler

Published on December 17, 2016December 15, 2016 by KateLeave a comment

O Leader of the House of Israel,
giver of the Law to Moses on Sinai:
come to rescue us with your mighty power!

A longer version of this antiphon is as follows:

O Lord and Ruler of the house of Israel, You appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush and on Mount Sinai gave him Your Law. Come, and with an outstretched arm redeem us.

This antiphon seeks to strongly and undisputably connect Jesus with God’s action in the Old Testament. Jesus is clearly the Lord and Ruler of the House of Israel – He is the head of the family. This means it is right and proper to say that Jesus appeared to Moses in the burning bush and on Mt. Sinai when Moses received the 10 Commandments.

I would like to hone in on the call for “an outstretched arm.” This is a very specific Old Testament phrase and is most often linked with the deliverance of Israel from slavery in Egypt.

Therefore, say to the Israelites: I am the LORD. I will free you from the burdens of the Egyptians and will deliver you from their slavery. I will redeem you by my outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment (Exodus 6:6).
Then the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand and outstretched arm, with terrifying power, with signs and wonders, and brought us to this place, and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey (Deuteronomy 26:8).

This antiphon emphasizes that Jesus, who in a specific time in history becomes the Paschal Lamb (through the gift of His Body and Blood as instituted at the Last Supper/Passover), not only participated but orchestrated the original Passover. Jesus was active in the Old Testament just as much as He is present in the New Testament.

This is incredible news for us. It reassures us and inspires us to hold fast to not just the promises of the Old Testament but also the promises Jesus makes in the New Testament. Some of the promises of Jesus comfort us – “Amen I say to you today you shall be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43 – said to the Good Thief who repents of his sins). Others are meant to challenge us to commit ourselves more fully to the Gospel – “Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil falsely against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven (Matthew 5:10-12a).

We can trust in Jesus. He has a good track record.

*** Please feel free to share your experience, thoughts and offer support to one another in the comments, on Twitter with the #DailyGraces or on the Facebook page.

December 17, 2016 – O Antiphons

Published on December 16, 2016December 16, 2016 by KateLeave a comment

We are entering the darkest days of the year. Dec. 21 is the Winter solstice which is the longest night and shortest day of the whole year (in the Northern Hemisphere anyway). Over the past few days we have taken the opportunity to see how our prayer can lead to action. There are concrete and practical ways that our short 3 minutes of prayer each day can bring us closer to Jesus but also closer to creation and one another. I think we can definitively say that Advent is an appropriate time for action even while we anticipate Jesus’ coming.

From Dec. 17 – Dec 23 the Church has a beautiful tradition of singing/chanting/saying the O Antiphons. You all probably know them, or at least one of them. They are the what inspire the verses of the common, beautiful Advent hymn “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.” (this is a slightly different rendition than you may have heard before, but it’s one of my favorites).

The O Antiphons date way back, some scholars believe the 8th Century way back. They are a walk through salvation history, looking at the Messianic promises God made to the Israelites throughout the Old Testament. After the promise we join in Israel’s longing for the Messiah to “Come” and save His people. Each day until Christmas we will join this ancient prayer of the Church and consider what these words mean for our daily life.

O Wisdom of our God Most High,
guiding creation with power and love:
come to teach us the path of knowledge!

O Wisdom, or O Sapientia in Latin, is the first O Antiphon. It brings us all the way back to the beginning, before the beginning actually. We recall that Jesus, the Savior, has always been the Savior even before there was a physical world that needed saving.

“In the beginning was the Word [Jesus] and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:1-5).

Before you and I were born, before our world was created, God was ready to save us. God He was “guiding creation” with almighty power and unending love to the very moment when Jesus was conceived within Mary. Is it so hard to believe that He continued to guide creation, continues to provide a path for us even now, while we await the 2nd coming of Jesus?

*** Please feel free to share your experience, thoughts and offer support to one another in the comments, on Twitter with the #DailyGraces or on the Facebook page.