Thursday 17 December

Reveal among us the light of your presence, that we may behold your power and glory.

Antiphon
O Sapientia

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.
(cf Ecclesiasticus 24.3; Wisdom 8.1)

Readings (Click the links to see the readings)

Genesis 49.2, 8-10 | Ps 72.1-7 | Matthew 1.1-17

It's not for us to know
Christopher Fitzgerald

It's not for us to know if Mary's pain
was dark or light, or how the labor went,
Or whether Joseph's energies were spent
Evicting some reluctant beast to gain
A corner of a manger’s rich terrain
For purposes obstetric. Was he sent
To beggar, when the need was evident,
The help of women skilled in their domain?
It's left to our imaging to square
The rigors of the manger with the creche,
To hear the muffled cry, to mark the stretch
And push a birthing God might bring to bear.
The image of the creche is sweet and light,
Bui Lord, was there no blood and sweat that night?
—from: Elizabeth Michael Boyle. Preaching the Poetry of the Gospels: A Lyric Companion to the Lectionary. Liturgical Press, 2003, p. 49.

Prayer

Holy God, your prophets call us to look forward to the dawn of a new day; may we who witness the promised springtime prepare the way for the coming Sun of Justice, Jesus your Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God now and for ever. Amen.
— Bosco Peters

Arvo Pärt. Magnificat Antiphonen: No. 1: O Weisheit / O Wisdom, performed by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and Tönu Kaljuste.

O Weisheit, hervorgegangen aus dem Munde des Höchsten,
die Welt umspannst du von einem Ende zu andern,
in Kraft und Milde ordnest du alles:
O komm und offenbare uns den Weg der Weisheit und der Einsicht, O Weisheit.		 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.

Geneaology

"The genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham: Abraham was the father of Isaac … … father of David … … father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah." (Matthew ch. 1).

South dome of inner narthex at Chora Church, Istanbul, depicting the ancestors of Christ from Adam onwards.


May the Lord, when he comes, find us watching and waiting. Amen.