O Wisdom of God Most High

THE WORD TO BE BORN

December 17, 2020: Wisdom - the Word made flesh

Genesis 49: 2, 8-10; Matthew 1: 1-17

This day marks the beginning of the seven special days of preparation towards the great feast of the Word becoming flesh...the Word eternal, when enfleshes itself, becomes Wisdom, the concrete manifestation of  God's knowledge. 

The Wisdom of God Most High, has been witnessed to from time immemorial, from all eternity. The Gospel's genealogy account, is to establish this eternal plan coming to its fulfilment in Christ, in incarnation and in the very act of God choosing to intervene in human history in a manner that cannot be paralleled to any.

God's Wisdom is manifest in justice that flourishes and peace that flows like an ever flowing river. Where there is justice and peace, there is Wisdom. When I become a source of peace and champion of justice, I become the Wisdom of God, that is, the manifestation of God made human! When I do nothing to further the cause of justice or peace, I cannot claim to be wise, nor to be in the vicinity of Wisdom, that is God who comes to dwell amidst us. 

Much worse, when I am the cause of injustice even in the least of ways, or the reason for destruction of peace whether consciously or unconsciously, I am against the Word, against the Wisdom, against the Reign of God that every Christmas very specially indicates. 

Today, let us resolve to behold the Wisdom of God, be filled with that Wisdom and share that Wisdom so that, we may create wherever we are, a community of justice and peace, concrete revelations of the Wisdom of the God most high.

THE WORD IN ADVENT - 3rd WEDNESDAY

The Advent Task: Believe, the Lord is around!

16th December, 2015

Is 45: 6-8, 18, 21-25; Lk 7: 18-23

The most unchristian thought at a time of trouble is that I am all alone! It may be difficult to see, it may be hard to perceive but I have to believe that the Lord is with me, simply because the Lord has promised me that! At times when I wait in the railway station or in the bus stops and it looks like the required bus or train is never coming, I am used to telling myself, even the minute before the train appears or the minute before the bus comes around looks like that - as if it is never coming! 

The Lord says, believe that the Lord is around and you have enough evidences for it. You only need to look around and observe the things that are happening. The goodness of people around, however limited it could be; a simple gesture of care from a stranger, however unplanned it could be; a smile or a single word of gentleness from a fellow passenger, however short it could be...a loving hug from a child at home, a caring look from a loved one in the family...these are enough signs to gather the presence of the Lord around. Let us capitalise on these, but for that we need to begin to believe that the Lord is around.

DB NOVENA - DAY 9

Don Bosco Novena - Day 9
30th January, 2015

DB NOVENA -DAY 8

Don Bosco Novena - Day 8

29th January, 2015

DB NOVENA - DAY 7

Don Bosco Novena - Day 7
28th January, 2015

DB NOVENA - DAY 6

Don Bosco Novena - day 6

27th January, 2015

DB NOVENA - DAY 5

DB NOVENA - DAY 4

Don Bosco Novena- Day 4

25th January

DB NOVENA - DAY 3

DB NOVENA - Day 2

DB NOVENA - DAY 1

WORD 2day: 17th December, 2014

Third Wednesday of Advent

Gen 49: 2, 8-10; Mt 1: 1-17

The Lord of History

Every time one reads the part of the Gospel presented by the Word today, one is filled with an awe at the wisdom of the Lord of History. History is in the hands of the Lord; the Lord creates, shapes and determines the history of humankind. How  foolish of us to think that we are making history or we are writing it ourselves. 

There are two aspects of the genealogy that impresses us at the very outset: 
First, the faithfulness of God from time immemorial. God promised something and he remained faithful to that promise for centuries and centuries together. It is this fact that inspires St. Paul to declare that even "if we are faithless, he remains faithful"(2 Tim 2:13). This faithfulness is underlined in today's Word from the first reading.
Second, the fact that the genealogy presented includes names such as Rahab the prostitute; Ruth, a non Hebrew woman; Bathsheba, an illegitimate connection and so on! It is an unparalleled statement made by God that anyone can be God's instrument in creating history and writing it, provided God wills it.

Let us believe: in and through us, here and now, the Lord is writing a history! We would do well to surrender ourselves totally into God's hands and be docile to God's promptings that we would be worthy elements of that history.

Novena... Day 9... O Morning Star

24th December: O Morning Star...

The 7 O-Antiphons are over with yesterday...
but the Novena ends today...with the rising of the Morning Star!

The Lord is not just near...but the Lord is here!!!
We celebrate the Rising Star, the Morning Star that announces the break of day!
The Lord comes to rule in our hearts, not just in the world...
Let us prepare ourselves..for the Lord is here.

Novena... Day 8... O Emmanuel

23rd December: O Emmanuel

O Emmanuel, our king and our lawgiver,
the hope of the nations and their Saviour:
Come and save us, O Lord our God.

Based on the famous prophecy of Isaiah 7:14, the title Emmanuel is the key to the mystery of incarnation. 

The symbol is the virgin with the child in the manger. It is not just any child, but the promised salvation of the God of the universe, the king who has come to meet his subjects to make them co-heirs to his throne.

The prayer is to save us, as the Lord our God... in simple words it is to stay with us, to live with us. to sanctify us, to make us worthy of God and of God's great big family.

Novena...Day 7... O King of Nations

22nd December: O King of Nations

O King of the nations, and their desire,

the cornerstone making both one:

Come and save the human race,

which you fashioned from clay.

Based on Isaiah 9:6, 2:4 and 28:16, the King of the nations is a yearning of the people of Israel. They wanted Yahweh to be their king always, even when they had a human king ruling them. That is why they did not give in to the Emperor worship that was so widespread in the dominant cultures of their times. God is the king, forever and over all!

The Symbol is the crown, and some times even the sceptre, that signifies the central place that God has in our personal and universal history; and the authority that rests solely with God.

The prayer is to save the human kind, from slaveries of sin and death to the freedom of the children of God, for that is what we are, children created in the image and likeness of God. It is to grow in this identity and dignity that the coming of the Lord invites us.

Novena... Day 6... O Rising Dawn...

21st December: O Rising dawn

O Morning Star,
Splendour of light eternal and sun of righteousness:
Come and enlighten those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

Based on Isaiah 9:2 and Isaiah 60:1-2, the title in Latin O Oriens, actually means literally O Rising Sun or Dawn, but for poetic sense translated as Morning Star, refers to the power of God's light to lead us from ignorance to knowledge and from mere knowledge to enlightenment. 

The Symbol is the Rising Sun, which dispels the darkness of the night and wakes the light of the morning, inviting all to life and activity. The coming of the Lord for us is a wake up call, an invitation to live as people of the light and not of darkness!

The prayer is for enlightenment, that in these times of confusion and crisis, confounding choices and staggering philosophies, we might remain always in the light of faith, that not only helps us see the Lord, but see with the eyes of the Lord (Lumen Fidei).

Novena... Day 5... O Key of David...

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, 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.

The prayer 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, towards establishing the Reign here and now!

Novena... Day 4... O Root of Jesse...

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. 

The prayer too 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!

Novena...Day 3... O Adonai!!!

18th December: O Adonai...

O Adonai, and leader of the house of Israel

who appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush

and gave him the law on Sinai:

Come and redeem us with an outstretched arm.

Based on Isaiah 11:45 and Isaiah 33:22, the title Adonai, refers to the Lordship of Yahweh, that the people of Israel always stressed on. From a generic universal history that yesterday's "Wisdom" reminded us of, today's "Adonai" comes down to the experience of Exodus, the watershed of the Spirituality of the people of Israel.

The Symbols are burning bush, to remind the experience when Moses surrendered to Yahweh and the stones of the commandments, the symbol of Israel's surrender to Yahweh.

The prayer is that of a surrender into the redeeming power of God, to be led by the Lord's hands always - from darkness to light, from folly to wisdom, from death to life! 

Novena...Day 2... O Wisdom!!!

17th December: 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.

Based on Isaiah 11:2-3 and Isaiah 28:29... the antiphon recalls the most popular attribute given to the Spirit of the Lord and the Word of God which is seen active in creation and order of the universe. It is this Word, who becomes flesh to dwell among us (John 1:14). 

The Symbol used is often...the eye within the triangle, which symbolises the Omniscient God...the Wisdom of God. The Jewish or the Davidic lampstand (with 7 sticks) is used to refer to the Wisdom of God which has accompanied the people of God right from the origins of history!

The Prayer today is for PRUDENCE...to be guided always by the Lord, the Lord who dwells among us.