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An occasional bit of wit 'n' wisdom as gleaned from the wise and learned. Family fun and times to share.
The Divine Office made use of Psalms and other Scripture passages over andI am always amazed how much more I still must learn about my faith and the beauty it has to offer us daily as we journey on this pilgrimage.
over on a regular rotation. Over the years, the practice developed of
praying an "antiphon" before and after each Psalm and canticle. This is
the sentence or two from Scripture which "frames" the fixed text. The
antiphons vary with the feast or season, and each one colors the fixed text with
a different accent.~~*~*~~On this day during Advent the O Antiphons begin and will continure through Christmas Eve.The particular antiphon for the day can be found in two places:*It is part of the Alleluia verse for the Liturgy of the day.*In the evening, it is placed before the Magnificat at Vespers for the Liturgy of the Hours.~~*~*~~The Advent antiphons are call the "O Antiphons" because each day's antiphon begins with and "O"...O Wisdom, O Key of David, O Flower of Jesse"s stem...The Little Blue BookAdvent and Christmas Seasons2008-2009
I find as I reflect on this that my hope and expectation are pretty limited. Perhaps I fear that my hopeful expectations will not be realized and disappointment will insue. The lesson for me is to have high expectations. If the results seem less, they are better than none at all and if they are greater than hope for what joy I can experience. I should be hope-filled, not just hopeful.O Blessed Hope!***"We await the blessed hope, the appearance of the glory of
the great God and of our savior Jesus Crist, who gave himself
for us to deliver us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for
himself a people as his own, eager to do what is good."(Ti 2: 13-14)***What part does hope play in my life? Do I hope mainly for things or for people? Or do I hope for events? As a child I once hoped for a rubber ball with all my heart. It was exactlly the size I wanted and had swirls of colors on it, all the right colors. I showed it to my mother in the store. It cost twenty-five cents. She pointed out to me several bigger, better balls, but I couln't have cared less. I knew what I wanted. No other ball would do. When I tore the wrappings off the little rubber ball on the morning of my eighth birthday and tossed them on the breadfast table, I know an unadulterated and absolute content such as I have rarely experienced since I dashed outdoors with my sister before school and threw it, threw it, threw it back and forth across our front lawn in a kind of ecstasy. Hope fulfilled! Such a small hope, just my size. God would like to stretch our longing hearts to hold much more, even himself. Will we let him do it? "We await the blessed hope..." Do we? "...the appearance of the glory of the great God, and of our Savior Jesus Christ..." How high do we set our sights? Do we have hopes to match God's hopes for us? His is a radiant hope. There is glory ahead for us, there is deliverance, there is an indescribable purity to be achieved only through his blood. Each one of us would be totally, uniquely his, were he to have his hopes fulfilled. Our sights would be set on doing "what is good" beyond all our wildest imaginings, empowered as we should be as "his people." His hopes for us will lift us to the blessed vision of himself. Where he will hold us, and we shall not fall.***O God, stretch my heart wide with blessed hope, to hold the all that you would give me--your very self!
NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD
Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of Go!" And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." They were greatly astounded and said to one nother, "Then who can be saved?" Jesus look at them and said, "for
mortals it is impossible, not for God; for god all things are
possible."Mark 10:23-27
Prayer
Jesus, you spoke hard words about the rich yourn ruler. We
confess that we are too much like him; together we form a camel train grudging
toward the tiniest needle, its speck of an eye. How can we hope to pass
through into the kidom of God? We rely on oyou, god for the Impossible,
and not ourselves. Make us into what you would have us be.
Advent Action
Once when she was asked how much money a person should give away,
Mother Teresa answered that we should give until it hurts--and then give some
more. You can imagine what a camel would feel like trying to squeeze
through the eye of the needle. Perhaps our giving should create
commensurate pain. Take a moment and think about the charitable giving
that you have done this year. What more can you give away even after it
hurts you?~~~^j^~~~
Enough said!
Thanks be to God!!