Fr. Roger J. Landry

Columbia Catholic Ministry, Notre Dame Church, Manhattan

Mass for December 19

December 19, 2022

Jdg 13:2-7.24-25, Ps 71, Lk 1:5-25

 

To listen to an audio recording of this homily, please click below:

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/catholicpreaching/12.19.22_Homily_1.mp3

 

The following points were attempted in the homily: 

* In the second phase of Advent that begins each year on December 17, the Church’s proximate journey to Christmas is accompanied by the ancient “O Antiphons,” called “O” because they all start with a vocative, calling the Lord Jesus by a specific title, and then asking him under that title to do something specific for us when he comes so that we may become more like him. These antiphons were already in use in the 700s in Rome but likely have their origin a few hundred years earlier. In them, we address Jesus in Latin, O Sapientia (O Wisdom), O Adonai (O Lord), O Radix Jesse (O Root of Jesse), O Clavis David (O Key of David), O Oriens (O Rising Sun), O Rex Gentium (O King of the Nations), and finally O Emmanuel (O God-with-us). These Antiphons are prayed by the Church twice a day, originally and principally during Vespers before and after the Magnificat canticle and then during the Alleluia verse to prepare us for the Gospel at Mass. They influence the way we’re supposed to relate to Jesus as he comes into our world, the way we’re supposed to respond with joy to the reception of God’s word. The beautiful Advent hymn we sing “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” is based on the O Antiphons, but the translation is a little loose and they’ve changed the traditional order. Regardless, it is a beautiful hymn not just to sing but upon which to meditate during this proximate preparation for Christmas. We will use the O Antiphons each day as a prism to understand what the Church gives us in Sacred Scripture and what we ponder in mystery.

* The O Antiphon and readings for December 19 help us to enter more deeply into the dynamism of God’s interaction with us, how he seeks to transform what seems lifeless into something fruitful and sacred and how we need silence to approach these mysteries with a proper sense of wonder. We ponder today the antiphon O radix Jesse, qui stas in signum populorum, super quem continebunt reges os suum, quem gentes deprecabuntur: veni ad liberandum nos, iam noli tardare, “O root of Jesse, who stand as a sign for the people about whom kings stay silent and before whom all the nations pray: come to free us, do not delay.” These sacred fourth-century words come from two parts of the famous passage from the Book of Isaiah that we heard back on Tuesday of the first week of Advent: “A shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom. On that day, the root of Jesse, set up as a signal for the nations, the Gentiles shall seek out for his dwelling shall be glorious” (Is 11:1,10).  The other part of the Antiphon comes from the passage about the Suffering Servant later in Isaiah, when the prophet, speaking about what he would suffer for us, foretells, “Even as many were amazed at him — so marred was his look beyond that of man, and his appearance beyond that of mortals —  so shall he startle many nations, because of him kings shall stand speechless; for those who have not been told shall see, those who have not heard shall ponder it” (Is 52:14-15). Together they reveal to us the shocking surprise of the rise of the shoot from Jesse’s stump. From a stump — which seems sterile, cut down — we don’t expect much growth, but we see that the shoot would eventually reach across the globe and into eternity. Isaiah was referring to King David’s descendant Jesus, who was set up as a sign to the nations of the presence of God. And that leads us to the response before this wondrous transform...