For the Third Sunday in Advent I reflected on the joy inherent in the Christmas promises as we look to the past present and future Then some two days later I was felled by a bacterial infection that kept me in bed for the next five days unable to do much beyond sleep take my antibiotics and dr

This O-antiphon calls to the One who is nbsp referred nbsp to as the Key of David nbsp He is this in the sense that it is he who particularly through nbsp the death nbsp and resurrection of Jesus will open for us and for all the mighty gates of Heaven nbsp We are as Luke phrases it in darkne

The child of Jesse was King David from David comes the King about whom we sing this evening nbsp Jesus is the King of Kings before whom all other kings stand in awe nbsp Kings are astonished and in silence and their peoples worship before him nbsp It is from this perspective that Jesus who

The second O-antiphon is a cry to the Lord of Israel that He stretch out His hand to save us nbsp In this antiphon we are reminded of the crucial act of salvation prior to Jesus the giving of the Law God s own best thought nbsp to Moses on Mount Sinai nbsp Moses himself the antiphon says r

O Wisdom is our evening antiphon to introduce Mary s Magnificat nbsp Wisdom is the first word suggested to us to consider as we approach Christmas Day nbsp For centuries before Jesus and for all centuries up to our own people have sought the wisdom by which to live a happy life nbsp For bei

We have had what I consider a rousing discussion on the Immaculate Conception still ongoing as I write with cris de coeur from some participants that we concentrate more on our relationship with God and less on dogmatic definitions Dogmatic definitions in a sense set the boundaries of discussio