Today, the Church begins to pray the O Antiphons. These antiphons are used within the official prayer of the Church, the Liturgy of the Hours (AKA Divine Office), before the Magnificat is recited or chanted. Each of these antiphons calls on the Lord in a different and unique name that is found within the scriptures. As we quickly approach the glorious celebration of our Lord's incarnation (God becoming Man), these antiphons help us remember the many awesome things God does and they remind us of who God is. In these short reflections, it's my intention to explain the antiphons and its meaning to Christ and Christmas. 
    Our fist antiphon tonight is: "O Wisdom of our God Most High, guiding creation with power and love: come to teach us the path of knowledge."  Generally, Wisdom in the scriptures is attributed to the third person of the Holy Trinity, the Holy Spirit; however, the wisdom books of the Old Testament (Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Job, and Strachey) speak of God Most High. There is also the Book of Wisdom, the authors primary purpose was to build up the Jews who were still practicing their faith seriously at a time of religious religious suffering and oppression. To convey the message, the most popular religious themes of the time were used, namely the splendor and worth of divine wisdom (6:22-11:1); the glorious event of the exodus (11:2-16; 12:23-27); Gods mercy (11:17-12:22); the folly of idolatry (13:1-15:17); and Gods justice (1:1-6:21). 
    All of these themes are directly relation to Jesus. Jesus is divine wisdom in the flesh for he is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. In the exodus event, God was saving his people from their oppression and persecution; Jesus came to save us from sin and death by taking on our humanity and suffering through his passion and death so that he could beat death and we can join him in his resurrection. Pope Francis reminds us over and over again that "Jesus is the face of mercy." Since Jesus is the new law, he warn us against sins such as lust, idolatry, greed, and the like and gives us the new commandment to love God above all things and to love our neighbor as ourself. Jesus also reminds us that our Father in heaven will judge us based on how we love.
    So, tonight I invite you to pray the antiphon and Magnificat with your family and reflect on Jesus, who is divine wisdom in the flesh, and how he and the a Blessed Trinity guide their creation with power and love and tech us how to love. 

Happy Advent