O Morning Star,
splendour of light eternal and sun of righteousness:
Come and enlighten those
who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death. Read More
Fourth O Antiphon: “O Clavis David”
O Key of David and Sceptre of the house of Israel,
Who dost open and no man doth shut,
Who dost shut and no man doth open,
come and bring forth from his prisonhouse
the captive that sitteth in darkness and in the shadow of death. Read More
Third O antiphon: “O Radix Iesse”
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. Read More
Second O antiphon: “O Adonai”
O Adonai, and Leader of the house of Israel,
Who didst appear to Moses in the flame of the burning bush,
and didst give unto him the Law on Sinai:
come and with an outstretched arm redeem us. Read More
First O 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. Read More
The question of authority
Mt 21:23-27
When Jesus entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you a question; and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, whence was it? From heaven or from men?” Read More
Rejoice always in the Lord
Phil 4:4-7
Always be joyful, then, in the Lord; I repeat, be joyful. Let your good sense be obvious to everybody. The Lord is near. Never worry about anything; but tell God all your desires of every kind in prayer and petition shot through with gratitude, and the peace of God which is beyond our understanding will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus. Read More
The Mystical Way
Lk 14:25-33
Reading from the memorial of St. John of the Cross
Great crowds accompanied Jesus on his way and he turned and spoke to them. ‘Anyone who comes to me without hating father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yes and his own life too, cannot be my disciple. No one who does not carry his cross and come after me can be my disciple. ‘And indeed, which of you here, intending to build a tower, would not first sit down and work out the cost to see if he had enough to complete it? Otherwise, if he laid the foundation and then found himself unable to finish the work, anyone who saw it would start making fun of him and saying, “Here is someone who started to build and was unable to finish.”
God is the treasure found in the field
NOTE: Today we will listen to and meditate on the Gospel of Saint Lucy’s memorial following the traditional calendar. For those who wish to learn more about the story of today’s saint, we recommend listening to this meditation:
https://en.elijamission.net/2023/12/13/
Mt 13:44-46
‘The kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which someone has found; he hides it again, goes off in his joy, sells everything he owns and buys the field. ‘Again, the kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls; when he finds one of great value he goes and sells everything he owns and buys it.
Our Lady of Guadalupe
Lk 1:39-48
A reading from the memorial of Our Lady of Guadalupe
In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah, and she entered the house of Zechari′ah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be[e] a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” And Mary said “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed”. Read More