Continually Come!

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Christ, come, Heart of Jesus, Hearts on Fire, love, O Antiphons, St. Claude La Colombiere, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

This morning, in praying with the Jesuits from their little book, Hearts on Fire, I once more saw the word, “Come!” Having spent almost the last quadrant of Lent reflecting on the O Antiphons whose petitions begged for a renewed recognition of Christ’s presence to us, I welcomed this continuation of the theme. In part, the prayer offered the following.

Come, lovable Heart of Jesus. Place your heart deep in the center of our heartsand enkindle in each heart a flame of love as strong, as great, as the sum of all the reasons that I have for loving you, my God. (p. 95, St. Claude La Colombiere)

Inter-abiding

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Emmanuel, God, good, grace, Jesus, joy, letting go, O Antiphons, presence of God, seek love, soul, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, true self

Today we are on the edge of the greatest Christian mystery: God becoming one with us in human form in order that we may abide in God in a way beyond our capacity to comprehend with our “ordinary mind.” We can only approximate the reality if we try to think ourselves into it. We need to be willing to “go to the lengths of God,” as Christopher Fry has said, letting go of the mind to a place of soul that is reached only as gift. The paradox is that we cannot get there by striving but we must continue to seek in love for love. Moreover, each of us must make this journey to our true self (where God lives) as ourself. Ultimately, no one can tell us who God is at the deepest level of knowing. That is a secret held only in the depths of the heart, a gift of grace. We can only open our heart – in our own words, with our own gesture – to this most welcome guest.

O Emmanuel, God with us, come now and abide in us that we may abide in you for the good of the world and the joy of knowing that you love us each as a precious and unrepeatable presence in you.

Almost There

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Christ, Emmanuel, enlighten, hope, Joseph, journey of faith, King of the Nations, Mary, O Antiphons, radiant dawn, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Although away from the internet for two days, I have been very present to the O Antiphons. My favorite (except for the last but easily twinned with it) is the fifth, translated variously as “Rising Sun,” “Morning Star” or “Dayspring.” I prefer my own rendition (which I did not invent but heard somewhere along my journey of faith). As I wait today for the light to come, signaling a new day, my heart hopes for the sun to break forth over the mountain across the river. Such a powerful symbol of returning light can awaken me to a new day as nothing else can and so is best described as “Radiant Dawn.”

O Radiant Dawn, splendor of light eternal and sun of righteousness, come and enlighten those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

The sixth antiphon, wherein Christ is called “King of the Nations,” breaks all the definitional laws of how the world sees a ruler. Coming as a helpless baby to a poor family, living as a carpenter’s apprentice and then an itinerant preacher and lover of all certainly topples all notions of kingship. Isaiah describes his reign as follows: He shall judge between the nations and shall arbitrate for many peoples. They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they train for war again. (IS 2:4) Is this not the king we long for? The one we know to bring us to a new “radiant dawn?”

O King of the nations, and their desire, the cornerstone making both one: Come and save the human race, which you fashioned from clay.

This is the one we call Emmanuel, God with us. I will save consideration of this Great Light until tomorrow when the birthing begins and the promise is ready to be revealed.

Open the Door

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authority, Come O God, House of David, House of Israel, Isaiah, Jesus, key, love, Messiah, O Antiphons, power, prophecy, salvation, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, unconditional love

Today’s O Antiphon speaks of the Messiah as the Key of the House of David. Isaiah writes of the authority given to the leader of the House of David, the one who has the power to open or to shut without anyone taking that power away. The authority of this powerful leader of God’s kingdom “shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onwards and forever more.” (Isaiah 9:7)

How do we understand this power? How did Jesus come in order that this prophecy would be fulfilled? Clearly his power was not the might by which earthly monarchs of earlier days manifested their authority. St. Paul speaks of the humility of the Christ (Messiah) who “emptied himself” of power in order that a new age be initiated, a new way of being triumphant.

What was the key to that new way? It could only be fueled by love. Pouring himself out in love was the example provided for us. We need only to search the gospels to find all the doors unlocked with that key of love. “Love one another as I have loved you,” Jesus said in word and deed. But we cannot only depend on the one who governs for that kind of success. Our participation is demanded. Love others as your very self. Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, take care of those less fortunate…You know the terms. The freedom that comes with loving unconditionally will be the salvation of the world. Are we willing?

O Key of David and scepter of the House of Israel, you open and no one can shut; you shut and no one can open: Come and lead the prisoners from the prison house, those that dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

The Flowering Root

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Come O God, God's plan, Isaiah, Jesus, Joseph, King David, Mary, Micah, O Antiphons, Root of Jesse, sign, synchronicity, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, worship

The O Antiphon for today comes from a prophecy in chapter 11 of the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Scriptures which says: “A shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom.” (Vs. 1) “And 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.” (Vs. 10) One would have to know that Jesse was the father of King David and that the prophet Micah, in chapter 5 of his prophecy, had written that the Messiah would be born “of the house and lineage of David and be born in David’s city, Bethlehem.” And one more thing leads to Jesus being recognized as Messiah. Although they lived in Nazareth, Mary and Joseph were required to travel to Bethlehem, as members of the lineage of Jesse, to enroll there in the census at the end of Mary’s pregnancy.

We can look at many important happenings of our lives as “synchronicity” (meaningful coincidences). Some people would describe the above circumstances as such. Believers the world over would have another explanation, however. They would call it “God’s plan.” Today’s O Antiphon cries out in that belief.

O Root of Jesse (or Flower of Jesse’s stem), you have been raised up as a sign for all peoples; kings stand silent in your presence; the nations bow down in worship before you. Come, let nothing keep you from coming to our aid.

Our Lord

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Adonai, Come O God, Jews, Moses, O Antiphons, redeem us, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Torah

On this second day of the O Antiphons, we see the paradox of the Christmas event. The word used to name the one who is to come is the title used by the Jews when reading the Torah to avoid using the proper name of God. Saint Paul uses it to speak of the one “who did not deem equality with God something to be grasped, but rather he emptied himself” to come as a child and be with us as one of us. And yet we have come to know him also as Lord.

O Adonai, 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.

Countdown

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Alleluia, Come O God, Most High, O Antiphons, prudence, teach, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, wisdom

Today starts the last week before Christmas and in addition to the shopping frenzy and the excitement of those waiting for the visit of Santa Claus, Christian ritual has its own traditional countdown known as the O Antiphons. On each day both in the gospel acclamation at Mass (the “Alleluia verse”) and at evening prayer (Vespers) there is a call to Christ to “Come!” Each day uses a different symbolic title for Jesus and pleads with God in a different way to bless and save us through the agency of Jesus. These are ancient verses, beautiful and worthy of reflection as we wait. Today we begin.

O Wisdom, coming forth from the mouth of the Most High, reaching from one end to the other, mightily and sweetly ordering all things: Come and teach us the way of prudence!

O King of All Nations, Come!

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contemplative prayer, Dalai Lama, deepest center, heart, hope, joy, king, King of All the Nations, O Antiphons, Peace, Pope Francis, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Thomas Keating, Thomas Merton, unity

It seems beyond human capacity that a world of several billion persons could come together under one ruler. There are so many countervailing factors. Just think about the diversity of languages or food choices, religious beliefs and so much more. That said, I think of efforts being made in spiritual circles to appreciate the values and practices of others that are birthing new hope for finding commonality that will lead at least to peaceful co-existence.

I think of Thomas Merton who, in addition to his correspondence with many spiritual writers and thinkers, traveled 50 years ago to Asia to address a conference of religious leaders on issues of peace. Had his untimely death not ended his brilliant and enthusiastic work, who knows what understanding might have come from it. Even now, Merton scholars continue to plumb the depths of his work, although lacking the essential quality of his person as inspiration.

Benedictine monk, Thomas Keating, tells of his experience as abbot in the Spencer, Massachusetts monastery in the early 1970s when many young people began to knock on the door asking, “Is this the Buddhist place?” Keating directed them to a building not far away on the same road. Finally, he and his colleagues, Fathers William Meninger and Basil Pennington, asked themselves: “What have they got that we haven’t got?” and went to visit the temple. There they found prayer not dissimilar to the monastic practice described by Thomas Merton in his book Contemplative Prayer as “a return to the heart…finding one’s deepest center, awakening the profound depths of our being.” From that beginning was born the Christian movement called Contemplative Outreach which now boasts hundreds of thousands of practitioners the world over.

So this “King of All the Nations” clearly cannot rule in a political sphere but only in the hearts of each person who longs for justice and the peace that comes from loving acceptance of diversity. Will we ever get there? The intimations are present in people like Pope Francis, for example, and the Dalai Lama. It remains for us to find the will to follow. I saved a column I found as the millennium was turning that spoke of possibility in the following words. Let us heed their message today.

“Some may not like the image of king but kingship evokes deep-felt longing. The antiphon points to a world better than any government we have known up till now, an order that recognizes no differences except to exalt the lowliest. And who knows? This millennium might bring that stunning reversal. So we pray: Come, one who draws us beyond our disputes, who silences our complaints in your great good order. Bring us the vital joy of diversity, the secure peace of unity. In you our plea is not contradictory, our hope is not disappointed.”

 

 

 

 

 

O Radiant Dawn, Come!

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Christ, consciousness, darkness, dawn, give glory to God, joy, light, miracle, O Antiphons, sunrise, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

As I consider the “O” Antiphon for today, so many images flash across the screen of my mind, so many beautiful experiences of sunrise! You have heard me effuse as I watch the color that precedes the approach of morning brighten the sky and give glory to God just outside my bedroom window. The miracle of color is surpassed only by the constancy of morning light. Even on the cloudiest or rainiest of days, we can count on the fact that light will surely come and offer us the hope of a new day.

The memory that spoke the loudest in me this morning was my experience of sunrise at the top of Mount Haleakala in Hawaii. People told me that it was a “must see” that meant getting up and in the car at 3:30AM and negotiating the many hairpin turns (more hair-raising coming down!) to sit in the freezing darkness and wait for the moment of sunrise. As the light began to penetrate, shapes appeared all around us: people who had been hidden by the darkness when we thought we were all alone on the mountain! There was no sound, just a large cohort of people sitting on the rocks, bundled in blankets, facing East and waiting in the silence…and waiting…and waiting. The expectation was palpable; we knew that the sun would absolutely not disappoint. And come it did – first the soft light, then the rays and finally the miracle itself bursting into presence over the mountain to thunderous applause and shouts of joy!

What calls us to such an experience of what happens every day? Can it possibly be the sense that sunrise is one thing that we can count on, regardless of what is happening in the world and in our lives? Whatever the cause, the visceral effect is sometimes so vibrant that the only reasonable reaction is like that day on the mountaintop: unrestrained joy that the miracle has happened again…and again…and again. If only we were willing to wait for it every day, our lives might feel lighter.

If only we might wait for the rise of Christ consciousness with every dawn of our waking, our hope might increase. And so on this fifth day of the “O” Antiphons we lift our hearts and pray: O Radiant Dawn, you bring God’s light into our darkness. You are the rising sun, the morning star that brightens lives and lifts spirits. Come, blaze in us and cast out all fear!

 

 

 

 

 

 

O Key of David, Come!

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Advent, Christ, gates of the kingdom, Jesus, keys, kingdom of heaven, O Antiphons, spirit, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, unconditional love

Keys are the “key” to so many things. We unlock the doors to our houses with keys (even if now in the form of a key pad). We start our cars with keys (even if it looks like a button remote from a fancy vehicle). Scientists are always looking for the one thing – the key – that unlocks the mystery they are trying to solve. Some of us know (repeatedly) the frustration of looking for our keys that have somehow not been in their regular place, especially when we’re late for work. Most of us can probably tell stories of our worst experiences with (or without) keys.

Today the “O” Antiphon presents Jesus as the key that unlocks the gates of the kingdom of God. We could think of that as imaging St. Peter standing at “the pearly gates” of heaven to let us in when we pass from this world. I’m thinking, however, of Jesus here on earth saying that “the kingdom of heaven is within you.” So, taking that statement to heart, we must consider that this is not something that can be done for us but rather that is done by us. How do we open to the kingdom of God within us? It seems we must give ourselves over to the action of Christ’s Spirit in us in conscious awareness, so that in that merger we come to know the openness of unconditional love. In that knowing we are free and able to access the light of God that is our truest self.

O Key of David, ruler of life, you unlocked the door to God’s kingdom. Come, pry loose the lynch pins of our hearts and open us to your advent!