Christmas Novena 2024 - Day 5

20th December: O Key of David

O Key of David and sceptre of the House of Israel;

you open and no one can shut;

you shut and no one can open:

Come and lead the prisoners from the prison house,

those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

Based on Isaiah 22:22, Isaiah 9:7 and Isaiah 42:7, the reference is to the sovereignty of God's Reign. That the throne shall have no end is a Messianic prophecy that, God will be established the Lord of history! Liberation of the oppressed and the fullness of life of all, is the sign of the Reign.

The symbol is the key to signify the authority that the Lord has, in creating, changing and structuring the whole history. It also signifies the perfect control that God has over time and space, life and being, but all these understood not in terms of domination but a love that creates and sustains.

Evil is real! Let us not deceive ourselves thinking it is imaginary; no, it is real and the evil one is prowling round like a roaring lion, looking for someone to eat. This is not a matter to be worried about, as long as we commit ourselves to the One Key, which alone can open or close time, space or history - the Lord! We would be mistaken to think, that liberation has to come from afar. It is already given to us by the Lord, we just need to choose it, claim it for ourselves! When we choose the key to liberation, we choose liberation!

The prayer today is for LIBERATION... to be led towards fullness of life that is the experience of the Reign on earth. It is also a commitment to work towards, to contribute one's might and mite, to choose with all our heart and our strength, the Lord, the key to fullness, towards establishing the Reign, and beholding it here and now!

Leaping for Joy - a sign of Beholding the Reign!

Advent 2024: A Pilgrimage of Hope towards Peace with Joy - the Nature of the Journey!

Third Saturday in Advent - December 21, 2024

Song of Songs 2: 8-14; Luke 1: 39-45

Leaping for joy – that is the symbol that dominates the Word presented to us, bringing to the peak the theme of this week. Joy, leaping for joy, and sensing and expressing the joy within, are signs of having experienced something. Today what the Word wishes to challenge from us, is that we behold the Reign, here and now, and thus leap for joy.

This leaping for joy is compared to the joy of a beloved on beholding the one of his or her love, in the first reading! The past experiences and the relationship already established come into play here and the it is the memory that brings joy to the person in this case!

In the Gospel we come across Elisabeth who leaps for joy on encountering not just her cousin, but the mother-to-be of God; and the baby in her womb leaping for joy to encounter the would-be Mother of God and the Divine Son to be born. This is hope, faith and trust in the promises of the Lord – the insight, the future that brings joy to the persons involved!

Be they memory or insight, they abound for us too, despite the scenes of darkness and despair that surround us. How much are we prepared to behold the Reign – that competence shall bring joy to us, the joy that the Lord brings. The imagery of the Rising Dawn, the Morning Star, is a leap for joy in the new beginning. The new beginning is always on the basis of the memory of the past day's accomplishments - great things that God accomplishes with his loved ones like David; it is also about the promises that the new day holds - the promise that God has made in the lineage of David. It takes a special capacity to behold the Reign in our day today, here and now. And it is that capacity that can generate true divine joy!

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Christmas Novena 2024 - Day 4

19th December: O Root of Jesse

O Root of Jesse, standing as a sign among the peoples;

before you kings will shut their mouths,

to you the nations will make their prayer:

Come and deliver us, and delay no longer.

Based on Isaiah 11:1, Isaiah 11:10, the title Root of Jesse, refers to the promise of the Lord to raise the Messiah from the line of David (the son of Jesse). It is a promise of deliverance that the Lord gives the people of Israel, and to everyone who believes in the Lord.

The Symbol is that of the shoot flowering... signalling the hope that the Lord offers in times when everything seems dark and dead. Look at the exodus event, the miracles in the desert, the water from the rock, the guidance by day and night - everyone of these was a sign of God's promises being fulfilled. The final fulfillment and the pinnacle of everything was - Incarnation, that which we are preparing to celebrate.

Promises of the Lord will never fail... it may look like it, but things will change. There may be enemies plotting around, there may be situations that go out of control and there may be evil all around me - I will give up and compromise when I think there is no hope. But when here is hope, when I stand on the promises of the Lord, I will never give up!

The prayer today is to reinforce that HOPE... that we may always look forward to the deliverance that the Lord can offer! Note that the readings of the liturgy too relate to the same sense of hope in the Lord who accomplishes marvels for us! Let us never let anyone rob us of our hope, reminds us often, our Holy Father.

The Joy of Being Chosen for the Reign!

Advent 2024: A Pilgrimage of Hope towards Peace with Joy - the Nature of the Journey!

Third Thursday in Advent - December 19, 2024

Judges 13: 2-7, 24-25; Luke 1: 5-25

None of us is here by chance, we are here by choice; not our choice but that of the Lord - the Lord’s choice for the Reign to come! The Lord, as St. Paul would affirm in his letter to the Ephesians, has chosen us before the foundation of the world. The Lord’s care for the human race, is best manifested with the amount of thought that has gone before events of salvation and the quality of those thoughts right from eternity.

The first reading recounts to us the announcement of the birth of Samson; and the Gospel reports the announcement of the birth of John the Baptist. The pre-announced choices are signs given to us to highlight two important facts: that we are loved and the Lord knows what is happening in our world.

One of the clear signs of love that one has for another is in the care that one shows. This care is exhibited in the form of forethought, a typical trait of a mother or father, or anyone who cares. Samson, John the Baptist, and many other similar persons of God, stand witness to this fact, and thanks to their faithfulness, God’s salvific plan has unfolded itself in phases although the times.

Secondly, the Lord is aware of what we are going through. At times people, or nations, or the powerful ones think that they are dictating everything in the world. But not too late, they do come to realise that they could be gone as a whiff in the wind. The Lord of history is forever in control and no one can gainsay that.  

The Saviour to come, referred to as the root of Jesse, is an affirmation of this exact truth: that our God is the Lord of History.