(Pixabay/Gabriele Lässer)
I love Advent. It brings a special brand of hope and light to the darkest days of our calendar year. This sacred season of waiting and expectation is especially poignant now as our world holds its collective breath wondering if joy is even possible amid pandemic pain.
But that is the whole point of Advent. We hope despite the darkness. We hope, not because we can see light, but because we trust in another to be light for us.
That other is Jesus.
On Dec. 17, the church s liturgy begins the O antiphons which are ancient refrains dating to the eighth century. Each day until Dec. 23, a different O antiphon is sung at Mass and in the church s Evening Prayer. The antiphons weave biblical imagery from the Hebrew Scriptures into a lovely theological tapestry celebrating the messianic titles of Jesus and what they might mean yesterday, today and tomorrow.