"Peter replied, 'Master, to whom would we go? You have the words of real life, eternal life. We’ve already committed ourselves, confident that you are the Holy One of God.'"(John 6:68-69)Saturday of the Third Week of Advent
Feast of the Church: The Great O Antiphons
December 20: "O Clavis David"
These Great "O Antiphons" at the Magnificat were first used by the Church in the 8th and 9th centuries.They are said in order, based on various titles for the Christ and are scripturally-based short prayers for the 17th to the 23rd of December.
In these "O Antiphons" the Church expresses her deep longing for the coming of the Messiah.
Christ, harrower of hell
(See Isaiah 22:22; Revelation 3:7)
O Clavis David,
et sceptrum domus Israël,
qui aperis, et nemo claudit,
claudis, et nemo aperuit:
veni, et educ vinctum
de domo carceris,
sedentem in tenebris,
et umbra mortis.
O Key of David,
and scepter of the house of Israel,
you open, and no one shuts,
you shut, and no one opens:
come, and lead the prisoner
from jail,
seated in darkness
and in the shadow of death.
Saints of the Day:
SAINT DOMINIC OF SILOS
Abbot
(c. 1000-1073)
St. Dominic of Silos was defender of the faith. Born in Canas, Navarre, Spain, circa 1000, he entered the Benedictines at San Millan de Ia Cogolla. King Garcia III of Navarre challenged him when he became abbot of the monastery, and Dominic refused to surrender part of the Benedictine lands to the crown. For this he was exiled, going to King Ferdinand I of Castile and Leon, who made him abbot of St. Sebastian Abbey at Silos, now called St. Dominic's.Dominic reformed the abbey, built the cloisters in Romanesque style, and started a scriptorium that became famous throughout the region. One of the most beloved saints in Spain, Dominic also rescued Christian slaves from the Moors.
Dominic's shrine is noted for its place in the birth of Dominic de Guzman, the founder of the Order of Preachers. Dominic de Guzman's mother begged for a child there. Dominic was also noted for miracles of healing.
Saints Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob
Patriarchs
Abraham, son of Thare, left Ur of the Chaldees about 2,000 years before Christ and went to Haran, where his father died. At God's command he took up his abode in Canaan, the land promised to his posterity. Forced by famine into Egypt, he returned to Canaan and rescued his nephhew Lot from the King of Elam. On his return he was met by Melchizedel, King of Salem, who blessed him.God made a covenant with Abraham and promised that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars of the heavens. In accord with God's specific promise he and his wife Sarah had a son in their old age whom they called Isaac. Abraham's Faith in God was tested by God's command to sacrifice his son in the manner of the surrounding peoples who practiced child sacrifice. After staying his hand, by means of an angel, God revealed the greatness of his posterity to Abraham as a reward for his unbounded trust in his Creator. Abraham died at an advanced old age.
As the Divinely promised son of Abraham and Sarah after a long childless marriage, Isaac became the heir of the Messianic blessings. He was proclaimed to sole legal ancestor of God's chosen people, outsting Ishmael, another son of Abraham. He resided at Beersheba and married a member of his father's family, Rebekah, who had been brought from Mesopotaamia. She bore him two sons, Esau and Jacob. During a famine Isaac sought Abimelech, the King of the Philistines, at Gerar, where he became rich and powereful. Shortly before his death, when he wished to bless Esau, his favorite son, Rebekah frustrated his intention by a ruse and substituted Jacob.
After depriving his brother Esau of his birthright, Jacob fled to Haran, the dwelling place of his maternal uncle, Laban, who gave him his daughters, Leah and Rachel, as wives. Jacob had twelve sons who became the ancestors of the twelve tribes of the Hebrew people. At Bethel he received a vision and blessing which constitute one of the outstanding events of early Hebrew history. And at Peiel he wrestled all night with a mysterious Divine stranger and received the Divinely give name. In his old age he journeyed to Egypt to rejoin his son Joseph, taking his whole household with him and setting the stage for the Exodus centuries later.
PRAYER
Lord God, You showered heavenly gifts on Sts. Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob. Help us to imitate them during our earthly life and enjoy eternal happiness with them in heaven.
Amen.
Saturday of the Third Week of Advent
Book of Isaiah 7:10-11 God spoke again to Ahaz. This time he said, “Ask for a sign from your God. Ask anything. Be extravagant. Ask for the moon!”
12 But Ahaz said, “I’d never do that. I’d never make demands like that on God!”
13-17 So Isaiah told him, “Then listen to this, government of David! It’s bad enough that you make people tired with your pious, timid hypocrisies, but now you’re making God tired. So the Master is going to give you a sign anyway. Watch for this: A girl who is presently a virgin will get pregnant. She’ll bear a son and name him Immanuel (God-With-Us). By the time the child is twelve years old, able to make moral decisions, the threat of war will be over. Relax, those two kings that have you so worried will be out of the picture. But also be warned: God will bring on you and your people and your government a judgment worse than anything since the time the kingdom split, when Ephraim left Judah. The king of Assyria is coming!”
Psalm 24: A David Psalm
1-2 God claims Earth and everything in it,
God claims World and all who live on it.
He built it on Ocean foundations,
laid it out on River girders.
3-4 Who can climb Mount God?
Who can scale the holy north-face?
Only the clean-handed,
only the pure-hearted;
Men who won’t cheat,
women who won’t seduce.
5-6 God is at their side;
with God’s help they make it.
This, Jacob, is what happens
to God-seekers, God-questers.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 1: A Virgin Conceives
26-28 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to the Galilean village of Nazareth to a virgin engaged to be married to a man descended from David. His name was Joseph, and the virgin’s name, Mary. Upon entering, Gabriel greeted her:
Good morning!
You’re beautiful with God’s beauty,
Beautiful inside and out!
God be with you.
29-33 She was thoroughly shaken, wondering what was behind a greeting like that. But the angel assured her, “Mary, you have nothing to fear. God has a surprise for you: You will become pregnant and give birth to a son and call his name Jesus.
He will be great,
be called ‘Son of the Highest.’
The Lord God will give him
the throne of his father David;
He will rule Jacob’s house forever—
no end, ever, to his kingdom.”
34 Mary said to the angel, “But how? I’ve never slept with a man.”
35 The angel answered,
The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
the power of the Highest hover over you;
Therefore, the child you bring to birth
will be called Holy, Son of God.
36-38 “And did you know that your cousin Elizabeth conceived a son, old as she is? Everyone called her barren, and here she is six months pregnant! Nothing, you see, is impossible with God.”
And Mary said,
Yes, I see it all now:
I’m the Lord’s maid, ready to serve.
Let it be with me
just as you say.
Then the angel left her.
Saturday of the Third Week of Advent
Commentary of the Day:
Saint Bernard (1091-1153), Cistercian monk and doctor of the Church
Sermon for the Annunciation, §7-8
«Behold the handmaid of the Lord»
« The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee, called Nazareth. » Are you surprised that a little town like Nazareth should be honoured by a message from a great King – and what a message! Yet a great treasure is concealed in this little town: hidden from men but not from God. Isn’t Mary God’s treasure? Wherever she goes, the heart of God goes with her. His eyes are upon her; he never ceases to look upon his lowly handmaid.
If God the Father's only Son knows heaven, he knows Nazareth too. How could he not know his country and his inheritance? He has heaven from his Father, Nazareth from his mother, for he claims to be both Son of David and the Lord (Mt 22,42f.)…
“Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God.” O what grace! A grace that is full, unique, exceptional… and all the more exceptional in that it is for all… A unique grace since you alone, O Mary, have its plenitude: “Most blessed are you among women and blessed the fruit of your womb” (Lk 1,42). For you alone he is the fruit of your womb, but through your mediation he comes to all of us… In you alone did this wealthiest of Kings strip himself, this great sovereign humble himself, this infinite God make himself small. He made himself lower than the angels (Heb 2,7); true God and Son of God, he became flesh. But why? To enrich us by his poverty, raise us up by his humility, make us greater by becoming small for our sake. He united us to God by becoming man so that we might begin to be one spirit with him (2Cor 8,9; 1Cor 6,17).
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