December 23rd - O Emmanuel

Today's O Antiphon reminds us that God is with us always. The name Emmanuel means God-with-us. As we draw ever closer to the celebration of Jesus' birth, we are assured of God's presence in our lives and our world. Read the words of the prophet Isaiah (7:13-14):

                   Then Isaiah said:
                   "Listen, every one of you in the royal family of David.
                   The Lord will give you proof. A virgin is pregnant;
                   she will have a son and will name him Emmanuel."

O come, O Come, Emmanuel

And ransom captive Israel,

That mourns in lonely exile here

Until the Son of God appear.

Rejoice! Rejoice!

Emmanuel shall come to you, O Israel.

December 22nd - O King of Nations

Today's O Antiphon gives two titles for Jesus. First he is called the "king of all the nations," then he is called Jesus our "keystone." The keystone is the stone in the middle of an arch. It supports the other stones so that the arch does not fall down. In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus is also called a cornerstone. The cornerstone of a building is perfectly straight so that the walls built on it can be strong and true. Listen to the words of the prophet Isaiah (28:16-17):


                 The Lord says this:
                 "I'm laying a firm foundation 
                 for the city of Zion.
                 It's a valuable cornerstone 
                 proven to be trustworthy;
                 no one who trusts it will ever be disappointed.
                 Justice and fairness will be the measuring lines
                 that help me build."

O come, Desire of nations, bind

In one the hearts of humankind;

Come bid our sad divisions cease,

And be for us the King of Peace.

Rejoice! Rejoice!

Emmanuel shall come to you, O Israel.

December 21st - O Dayspring

In today's O Antiphon, we call Jesus the "dawn" or "dayspring." In wintertime nights are long and days are short. So we call on God to be light to us at this time of the winter solstice, the shortest days of the year. Just as the dawning sun soon rises high in the sky and shines brightly, we think again of the coming of Jesus who is our "sun of justice" and "light of the world." Listen to the words of the prophet Isaiah (60:19-21,22).
        
              The Lord says this:
              "You won't need the light of the sun or the moon.
              I, the Lord your God, will be your eternal light
              and bring you honor.
              Your sun will never set or your moon go down.
              I, the Lord, will be your everlasting light,
              and your days of sorrow will come to an end.
              I am the Lord, and when the time comes,
              I will quickly do all this."

O come, O Dayspring, from on high

And cheer us by your drawing nigh;

Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,

And death's dark shadow put to flight.

Rejoice! Rejoice!

Emmanuel shall come to you, O Israel.

December 20th - O Key of David

In today's O Antiphon, Jesus is called the Key of David. People with keys are often recognized as people with authority and/or special permissions. Jesus is the key that opens the gate of heaven for us. In the book of Revelation (3:7-8,11) the Lord says this:

                            "I am the one who is holy and true, and I have the keys that
                         belonged to David. When I open a door, no one can close it.
                         And when I close a door, no one can open it. Listen to what I
                         say.
                            "I know everything you have done. And I have placed before
                         you an open door that no one can close. You were not very
                         strong, but you obeyed my message and did not deny that you
                         are my followers.
                            "I am coming soon. So hold firmly to what you have, and no
                         one will take away the crown that you will be given as your
                         reward."

O come, O Key of David, come,

And open wide our heav'nly home,

Make safe the way that leads on high,

And close the path to misery.

Rejoice! Rejoice!

Emmanuel shall come to you, O Israel.

                             

The O Antiphons: Daily Prayers for the Week before Christmas

As the last few days before Christmas are counted, we pray with increasing intensity for the Lord to come. Traditionally, each of the last seven days of Advent, from December 17 through December 23, received its special prayer, called the "O Antiphon." Each O Antiphon calls upon the Lord with a different title, a beautiful image of the Messiah, used by the prophets to describe the amazing promises of God. These prayers, dating from the eighth century, are created from short texts found in the prophetic and wisdom books of the Bible.

Each of the seven days before Christmas, the Sisters hold these antiphons in their hearts and sing them at Evening Prayer. We invite you to carry the antiphons with you as we prepare with joy for the coming our Our Lord.

December 17th - O Wisdom
     One of the prophets' ancient names for God was Wisdom. They wrote of Wisdome moving about the city like a beautiful woman inviting people to her home, where she would teach them to know what was good and just.

O come, O Wisdom from on high,

Who orders all things mightily;

To us the path of knowledge show,

And teach us in her ways to go.

Rejoice! Rejoice!

Emmanuel shall come to you, O Israel.

December 18th - O Lord
     Out of respect,  Jews never say the name of God aloud. When reading from the scriptures, they call God "Lord." Christians also call Jesus "Lord". He is the fulfillment of the promise that God would one day come to live among the people to strengthen and redeem them.

O come, O come, great Lord of might,

Who to your tribes on Sinai's height

In ancient times once gave the law,

In cloud, and majesty, and awe.

Rejoice! Rejoice!

Emmanuel shall come to you, O Israel

  

   

December 19th - O Flower of Jesse

     King David, the some of Jesse of Bethlehem, was the first great King of Israel. Long after he had died, the people longed for another great king who could lead them as he had done. Through the words of the prophet Isaiah, God promised that the Messiah would be a new branch on the royal family tree of Jesse and David.

O come, O Rod of Jesse's stem,

From every foe deliver them.

That trust your might pow'r to save

And give them vict'ry o'er the grace.

Rejoice! Rejoice!

Emmanuel shall come to you, O Israel.

Sr. Marie Therese's reflections on her pilgrimage to the Holy Land: Part 1

             Since the gift of a pilgrimage to the Holy Land this past November 8-17, I will never be the same. In the past when I prayed the Psalms or read or listened to the Epistles and Gospels at Mass, I thought I appreciated them.  However, now that I have followed in the footsteps of Jesus in His earthly life in Bethlehem, Nazareth, and Jerusalem, the words of Scripture have taken on a whole new life.  



Olive tree at the Garden of Gethsemane   

Sycamore tree like Zacchaeus climbed

 Each day of our trip, I was surprised to come upon places and things that Jesus saw and the evangelists described. Now I know what the sycamore tree that Zacchaeus climbed and the olive trees in the Garden of Gethsemane looked like. Sitting in a small ferry boat, I felt the breeze blow gently on the Sea of Galilee. Very early before the shops opened, I helped to carry a large wooden cross from one station to the next along the narrow Way of the Cross. In Jericho I rode in a red cable car up to the Mount where Jesus, fasting, withstood Satan’s three temptations. I tried to float in the shallow salty waters of the Dead Sea and marveled at the sight of the cave where the Dead Sea Scrolls were first found. 



Cave where Dead Sea Scrolls were found       



             

Sea of Galilee    

            At another level, it is difficult to find words to describe the wonder of being present where Mary said “yes” and the Word was made flesh,  of touching the star that marks the place where Jesus was born and the hole where the cross stood on Calvary where He died. At each holy site, we were privileged to celebrate Mass or to read the Scripture passage that described what happened there. At every opportunity I prayed for all our Visitation families and friends and their intentions.

   

A unique privilege for me was our stop at Ain Karim, where Mary traveled to visit her cousin Elizabeth. Luke’s Gospel says Mary went into the hill country, and not much has changed in that respect. On the late afternoon we retraced the last part of Mary’s journey, I was not sure I would make it up the long hill. Without the help of another kind member of our pilgrimage, I probably would not have reached the top--or gotten safely down the slippery stones when we returned to the bus. But then there it was, the lovely Church of the Visitation. Although it was bright sunlight when we went in, hardly a half hour later it was completely dark and a pale crescent moon was shining!



Ain Karim - Church of the Visitation



 To be continued in the next installment…

In the 'Nick' of Time Gift Giving

You are in the nick of time to buy a unique Christmas gift for yourself or a friend! Visitation Academy: Educating the Mind and Heart, 1833-2008 is an attractive coffee table book with outstanding photographs of the first 175 years of Visitation Academy and Monastery in Saint Louis.

Sr. Marie Therese shares about the book at the 2010 Reunion Weekend

The price of the book is $45 which includes shipping. If you're interested in purchasing a copy, checks may be made payable to Visitation Monastery and mailed to us at 3020 N. Ballas Rd 63131. Attn: Sr. Marie Therese. If you need more information, please feel free to call the Monastery at (314) 625-9235 or email us at livejesus@visitationmonastery.org.

Happy Feast of St. Nicholas

For today, the Feast of St. Nicholas, patron of unselfish giving, the Gospel reading is perfect! It tells the story of the good friends of a paralyzed man who are frustrated in their attempts to bring him to Jesus through the door of the house. Their unselfish friendship prompts them to lift him to the roof, take out a tile, and carefully lower him right at the feet of Jesus. Of course, Jesus heals him because of their and the man's faith. Happy Feast of St. Nick to all our friends!

As you can see, St. Nicholas visited the monastery and left a gift in each sister's shoe!

Sister Marie Therese goes on Pilgrimage to the Holy Land

For decades I enjoyed sharing with English classes the lively humor of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, especially the prologue. I never dreamed that I, like the Wife of Bath, would go on a prayer pilgrimage not just to the shrine of St. Thomas Becket but to the Holy Land itself. Unbelievably, I will enjoy this privilege from Nov. 8-17 this year! My friend and former colleague in the Theology Department Carol Costigan and her husband, Ed, are giving me this journey of a lifetime. My sister Rita is also going on the trip.

After so many years of also teaching Old and New Testament, the places mentioned in the Gospels will come to life for me as I follow in the footsteps of Jesus. We will be staying in hotels in Bethlehem and in Jerusalem and will go out from there. I am looking forward especially to celebrating Mass at the Basilica of the Annunciation and also on Mount Calvary as well as going to Ain Karim where Mary visited Elizabeth and Zachary and the unborn John the Baptist. We will take a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee which Jesus and his apostles crossed so often and also pray at the famous Wailing Wall. We will visit Capernaum, Cana, Mount Tabor, Qumran, the Dead Sea, the Grotto of the Nativity, and even follow the Via Dolorosa to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

You can read between the lines how excited I am! I promise to keep all of my former students, friends , and family in my heart and pray for you at all the holy places. I’ll take a camera and keep a journal, but I can’t promise to write a Chaucerian prologue.

A Pumpkin Prayer

Last week, Sister Catherine prayed with the seventh grade class...
 

Being a Christian is like being a pumpkin,

God lifts you up, takes you in, and washes all the dirt off of you.

He opens you up, touches you deep inside
and scoops out all of the yucky stuff:

Including the seeds of doubt, hate and greed.

Then He carves you a new smiling face and

He puts His light inside you to shine for all the world to see.

Lord, open my mind so I can learn new things about you.

Remove the things in my life that don’t please you.

Forgive the wrong things I do and help me forgive others.

Open my eyes to see the beauty 
 You’ve made in the world around me.

I’m sorry for the times
I’ve turned my nose at the good You provide.

Let everything I say please You.

Lord, help me show Your Light to others
through the things I do and say.

When I see others needing a light, help me to share mine.  Amen

Sr. Catherine even brought her own pumpkin!

The Parable of the Persistent Widow

The Gospel reading for the 29th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Luke 18:1-8) so captured my attention that I have been thinking of it for over a week. It was Luke's portrayal of the poor widow who day by day went persevering to plead for justice before the unjust judge. By right it should have been her father or brother who took her side in court, but she had no one. The judge himself boasted that he feared neither God nor man. Yet even he finally gives in and grants her request. The image of this poor little woman threatening the powerful man with a black eye and finally winning her case by sheer persistence is sheer comic relief.

However, the last sentence of this Scripture passage is what has reechoed in my mind: "When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" Will Jesus find us imitating the poor widow? Whether it is in relationships, financial reverses, serious illness, or an uncertain future, will we, like the widow, persistently cling to our faith no matter what happens? This is an almost daily challenge. Yet we put our faith in a God who is just and who loves us beyond words.

Dear God, please give us the grace to persevere when you do not seem to be answering our prayers as soon as or as we wish. As Dante wrote in his Divine Comedy, "In Your Will is our peace."