December 23, 2025 O come, O come, Emmanuel,and ransom captive Israelthat mourns in lonely exile hereuntil the Son of God appear. Two days before Christmas, in this Advent season of waiting and longing, the seventh, and final, name for the Christ (or Light, or Love, or Universe, if you prefer) proclaimed in the ancient prayer-songContinueContinue reading “O Antiphons of Advent: Emmanuel”
Tag Archives: Advent
O Antiphons of Advent: King of Nations
December 22, 2025 O come, O King of nations, bindin one the hearts of all mankind.Bid all our sad divisions ceaseand be yourself our King of Peace. Three days before the birth of the Light, in the O Antiphons, the ancient prayer-song of waiting and expectation, the sixth title given to the Christ (or Light,ContinueContinue reading “O Antiphons of Advent: King of Nations”
O Antiphons of Advent: Morning Star
December 21, 2025 O come, O Bright and Morning Star,and bring us comfort from afar!Dispel the shadows of the nightand turn our darkness into light. What compelling and significant timing for the fifth name for Christ in the O Antiphons to be on the same day as the Winter Solstice! On this longest, darkest nightContinueContinue reading “O Antiphons of Advent: Morning Star”
O Antiphons of Advent: Key of David
December 20, 2025 O come, O Key of David, comeand open wide our heavenly home.Make safe for us the heavenward roadand bar the way to death’s abode. Imagine trusting someone with a key to your home, your family, your finances, a key to everything you value in this world. And then imagine that same personContinueContinue reading “O Antiphons of Advent: Key of David”
O Antiphons of Advent: Root of Jesse
December 19, 2025 O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, freeThine own from Satan’s tyranny;From depths of hell Thy people save,And give them victory o’er the grave. One of my favorite activities is hiking, and one of my favorite objects to observe while hiking is trees. Trees amaze me, from their intricate root systems to theContinueContinue reading “O Antiphons of Advent: Root of Jesse”
Advent’s O Antiphons: Adonai
December 18, 2025 O come, O come, great Lord of might,who to your tribes on Sinai’s heightin ancient times did give the lawin cloud and majesty and awe. On the West Bank, Palestine, in the city of Bethlehem, lies the oldest site continuously used as a place of worship in Christianity, and the Church ofContinueContinue reading “Advent’s O Antiphons: Adonai”
Advent’s O Antiphons: Wisdom
December 17, 2025 O come, O Wisdom from on high,who ordered all things mightily;to us the path of knowledge showand teach us in its ways to go. This last week before Christmas Day has always been mystical to me, a thin place of sorts, where we move willingly or not toward the Winter Solstice, theContinueContinue reading “Advent’s O Antiphons: Wisdom”
Advent 2024: Fog
Advent Day 18, December 18, 2024 The above photo shows the view from my kitchen window yesterday morning. At this time of year, with the leaves gone, I can usually see the traffic below on one of the busiest roads into the city, but not yesterday. Fog snaked low across the valley before descending over the roadContinueContinue reading “Advent 2024: Fog”
Advent 2024: JOY
Advent Day 13, December 13, 2024 “We need a little Christmas now.” Songwriter Jerry Herman If you’re looking for a prayer app, let me suggest Lectio365, a 10 minute devotional resource composed by leaders of Prayer 24/7, an international Christian movement focusing on prayer, mission, and justice. My reflection this morning is motivated by yesterday’sContinueContinue reading “Advent 2024: JOY”
Advent 2024: The Long Goodbye
Advent Day 12, December 12, 2024 Today marks the 10th anniversary of my mother’s death. She died at 94 after a long decline caused by dementia and Parkinson’s disease which left her a “two-assist,” an impersonal term meaning that it required two people to move her from her bed anywhere else, even though she only weighedContinueContinue reading “Advent 2024: The Long Goodbye”
Spirit Reflections 