O Come O Come Emmanuel
Advent Day 17 – The Burning Bush of the World (and the beginning of Hanukkah)
Advent Day 17 ~ Saturday of the third week of Advent
(and the beginning of Hanukkah )
Advent themes are all about waiting for light to shine in our darkness.
For we who are Christians await, Jesus, Yeshua, who is for us the Light of the World.
We prepare a place for him to shine in our own hearts this day.
We invite you to search out your own inner meaning whatever that might be.
Hanukkah begins on Sunday after sundown. We honor our Jewish brothers and sisters with these words that appear in the Catholic liturgy just before Christmas, one of the seven magnificent O-Antiphons that begin on this day–seven days before Christmas Eve.
O Adonai and Ruler of the House of Israel,
you appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush
and on Mount Sinai gave him your law.
Come, and with outstretched arm redeem us.
And my prayer . . .
O Adonai*, we need you in our world more than ever!
You appeared in the burning bush long ago.
I remember this awesome sunrise over the ocean when I lived more than a decade ago on St. Augustine Beach, Florida.
I’m reminded of the old sailor’s maxim: “Red at night, a sailor’s delight; red in the morning, sailors take warning.”
Come with your refiner’s fire and burn your way into our hearts.
so we can prepare the way for the Messiah to come into our lives,
into our homes,
our workplace and marketplace,
our neighborhoods
and, most especially into our beloved country that so badly needs You right now,
and our waiting world!
Come Lord Jesus!
______
What are the “O” Antiphons?”
If you’re interested in learning more about them, here’s a website that has information and recordings of all seven. Click here. (Skip the first half and scroll ALL the way down to the bottom for the O-Antiphons themselves. You will notice little speaker signs next to each one. If you click on those little music notes, it will play for you the actual chant melody for each O-Antiphon.
But before you go, here’s O come, O come Emmanuel with the lyrics that are the seven O-Antiphons in English for your reflection. Click here.
* Adonai is one of the names the Jewish people use for God, meaning “Lord God Almighty.”
And here’s some information about Hanukkah so that we can learn about our Hebrew Friends’ customs and celebrations and their meaning. Click here.
With love,
Bob Traupman
contemplative writer
Advent Day 18 – The Burning Bush of the World
Advent Day 18 ~ Wednesday of the third week of Advent
Advent themes are all about waiting for light to shine in our darkness.
For we who are Christians we await, Jesus, Yeshua, who is for us the Light of the World.
We prepare a place for him to shine in our own hearts this day.
We invite you to search out your own inner meaning whatever that might be.
During Hanukkah later this month we will honor our Jewish brothers and sisters with these words
that appear in the Catholic liturgy just before Christmas, one of the magnificent O Antiphons:
O Adonai and Ruler of the House of Israel,
you appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush
and on Mount Sinai gave him your law.
Come, and with outstretched arm redeem us.
And my prayer . . .
O Adonai*, we need you in our world more than ever!
You appeared in the burning bush long ago.
I remember this awesome sunrise over the ocean when I lived some years ago on St. Augustine Beach, Florida.
I’m reminded of the old sailor’s maxim: “Red at night, a sailor’s delight; red in the morning, sailors take warning.”
Come with your refiner’s fire and burn your way into our hearts.
so we can prepare the way for the Messiah to come into our lives,
into our homes,
our workplace and marketplace,
our neighborhoods
and, most especially into our beloved country that so badly needs You right now,
and our waiting world!
Come Lord Jesus!
I have a couple of notes for you as we make our countdown toward Christmas. Hanukkah begins at Nightfall on Sunday, December 22nd and goes through sundown on December 30th.
Hanukkah, which is Hebrew for “dedication,” is the Jewish Festival of Lights.
It commemorates the victory of the Maccabees over the Syrian Greek army, and the subsequent miracle of rededicating the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and restoring its menorah, or lamp.
The miracle of Hanukkah is that only one vial of oil was found with just enough oil to illuminate the Temple lamp for one day, and yet it lasted for eight full days. Jewish children usually receive a new gift each day of Hanukkah.
May we pray for our Hebrew sisters and brothers who have suffered so much violence and fear in our country and abroad these past few years.
The other important event that we won’t be able to cover this year directly in this blog this year is the Winter Solstice that is observed in ritual form my our pagan sisters and brothers in places like Stonehenge in Great Britain and the Easter Islands in the Pacific. I don’t use the term “pagan” here pejoratively, as we actually got our date of Christmas from their celebrations of the Winter Solstice!
Actually, we haven’t the slightest idea when Jesus was born. We only celebrate it liturgically. On the Winter Solstice, the sun in the northern hemisphere is beginning to ascend again, connoting the phrase of John the Baptist about Jesus: “He must increase; I must decrease” (John 3:30). This year the Winter Solstice is on Saturday, December, 21st. (My last post before Christmas will be on Friday, December 20th, since many of you may be taking advantage of the long weekend for travel.
And before you go, Here’s another prayerful rendition of “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. Click here.
And here are today’s Mass Readings. Click here.
* Adonai is one of the names the Jewish people use for God, meaning “Lord God Almighty.”
With love,
Bob Traupman
contemplative writer
What Wondrous Love is this?
Thursday of the Fourth Week of Advent
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 thee, O Israel!
(My Advent Wreath)
Emmanuel, they tell us you are “God-with-us.”
Where are you, Emmanuel?
Are you here?
Are you here in the messiness of our lives?
Can you really ransom us from our captivities,
our slaveries to addictions, our hatreds and grudges and jealousies
that eat us up and spit us out?
Our guilts, our “coulda, shouldas, wouldas — our druthers and regrets?
Our lethargy, our hopelessness, our slumber, our rage?
O Israel! O America!
Do You really want Emmanuel to come?
Do We want you to? (Do I?)
Many languish in mourning, Emmanuel
in exiles made by Wall Street and homelessness and sickness
and loneliness and selfishness.
Many a young heart yearns ~ aches for direction and meaning and love.
Prisoners waste away. Such a waste of young lives!
Will you ransom their hearts, and souls, Emmanuel?
~ our hearts and souls?
Will you change our justice system to be truly just?
Will you truly rain down justice as the psalmist says?
Yes, Emmanuel, come!
Be God-with-us!
Even though we can sometimes hardly be with ourselves.
Captivate us! Inhale us with Your love.
Dazzle us with hope and new life and possibility.
Yes, Emmanuel! We believe you will come.
Maybe not today or tomorrow.
You will transform the secret yearnings of our souls.
We will dance and sing and embrace You and each other
because you came among us, Emmanuel.
You ARE with us, Emmanuel.
You are LOVE ITSELF!
Because of You our own being becomes “being-in-love!”
We rejoice! We give thanks! We believe!
Come, Lord Jesus! Yes, Lord Jesus, come.
Brothers and sisters, this Christmas let each of us give thanks
— and receive again in a new way
such a precious, wondrous love,
such a wonderful gift.
Here is a YouTube presentation of the powerful hymn sung by Steve Green “What wondrous love is this? Be sure to turn up your speakers and enter full screen,
And here are today’s Mass readings, if you would like to reflect on them. Click here.
We have two days remaining to prepare our heart to receive the new gift Jesus wishes to give us this year. Be sure to take time to prepare. As for me, this Advent, as I’ve written these blogs and my new Reflection / Letter, in spite of the personal life difficulties I’m going through right now, the joy and happiness I feel as I approach Christmas is truly amazing. I live alone with my dog Shoney and my Lord as a companion as well. My hope, my prayer, my desire is that in some small way I am able to share that with you, my beloved readers. Tomorrow I will publish my blog for Christmas.
With love,
Bob Traupman
contemplative writer
Advent Day 22 ~ The Burning Bush of the World
Monday of the Fourth Week of Advent
Advent themes are all about waiting for light to shine in our darkness.
For we who are Christians await, Jesus, Yeshua, who is for us the Light of the World.
We prepare a place for him to shine in our own hearts this day.
We invite you to search out your own inner meaning whatever that might be.
In the Catholic liturgy just before Christmas, one of the magnificent O Antiphons appears:
O Adonai and Ruler of the House of Israel,
you appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush
and on Mount Sinai gave him your law.
Come, and with outstretched arm redeem us.
And my prayer . . .
O Adonai*, we need you in our world more than ever!
You appeared in the burning bush long ago.
I remember this awesome sunrise several years ago over the ocean at St. Augustine Beach.
I’m reminded of the old sailor’s maxim: “Red at night, a sailor’s delight; red in the morning, sailors take warning.”
Come with your refiner’s fire and burn your way into our hearts.
so that we can prepare the way for the Messiah to come into our lives,
into our homes,
our workplace and marketplace,
our neighborhoods
our beloved country especially,
our waiting world!
Come Lord Jesus!
______
Father Bob's Reflections 