Seeker

It is 2 days before Christmas Eve in the Advent count down to Christmas. The O Antiphon for Evening Prayer today is 'O Rex Gentium', or in English 'O King of the Nations'. Today's antiphon comes as a reminder that Jesus the baby of Bethlehem is born for all people, to rule over all. Today's antiphon is a prayer asking God to save all humanity, all creation. An English version of this antiphon is: O king of the nations, and their desire,   the cornerstone making both one:   Come and save the human race,   which you fashioned from clay. Like the other Advent O Antiphons it uses titles for the coming Messiah, the Christ, the anointed one. There are 3 titles here: King of the nations (or the Gentiles) Desire of the nations Cornerstone who makes Jew and Gentile one The imagery in this prayer is based on many Biblical references. Here is a selection of them: From the Book of Revelation ...Great and amazing are your deeds,   Lord God the...

A key can unlock or lock a door. A key can open an entrance to a passageway to who knows what delights.  A key can set prisoners free. A key can be a symbol of authority and power. What or who is the 'Key of David'? As with the other names in the Advent O Antiphons used in the last week of Advent the Key of David is a name used by Christians for Jesus Christ. The key of David phrase is found first in the Hebrew scriptures. In Isaiah 22 there is a denunciation of self-seeking officials and a statement that the Lord will call Eliakim son of Hilkiah. The key of David is mentioned in a description of Eliakim's duties as royal chamberlain to King Hezekiah of Judah. Eliakim held the power and responsibility for peaceful and just government. "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 Christians see in those words from Isaiah 22:22 a type or symbol o...

The 3rd of the Advent O Antiphons (refrains) sung with the Magnificat (song of Mary) at Evening Prayer today is 'O Radix Jesse' meaning 'O Root of Jesse'. If you don't know what the Advent O Antiphons are take a look at the 1st post in this daily 2016 series for the last week of Advent.  What's the 'Root of Jesse' got to do with the run-up to Christmas? Why refer to Jesse in this last week of Advent? Who was Jesse anyway? Many hundreds of years before Christ, Jesse was a sheep farmer in Bethlehem and father of many children. Jesse was faithful to God and is significant as the father of his youngest child David who was anointed by the prophet Samuel to be King over Israel. (You can read that story in 1 Samuel 16: 1 - 13 ). Both Jesse and King David are listed in the Gospel of Matthew's genealogy of "Joseph the husband of Mary,   of whom Jesus was born,   who is called the Messiah." ( Matthew 1: 1 - 17 ) By the time of...

Yesterday I blogged about the 1st of the great O Antiphons of Advent and explained how these sung responses to 'Mary's Song' are used during the last week of the 'run up to Christmas'. Today's antiphon is O Adonai. Adonai is usually translated as 'Lord'. It stands for the personal name of God, revealed to Moses, represented by 4 consonants (YHWH) in the Hebrew scriptures and considered too holy to be spoken. One English translation of the O Adonai antiphon is: "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." Another translation has the last line as 'come and set us free'. A more generally known version is this verse from the Advent hymn 'O Come Emmanuel': O come, O come, Thou Lord of might, Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai's height, In ancient times did'st give the Law, ...