O antiphons

During the season of advent, from December 17 until December 25, the Church follows a tradition whose origin is lost to antiquity. As part of the Liturgy of the Hours, the antiphon said before the Magnificat

highlights a title for the Messiah: O Sapientia (O Wisdom), O Adonai (O Lord), O Radix Jesse (O Root of Jesse), O Clavis David (O Key of David), O Oriens (O Rising Sun), O Rex Gentium (O King of the Nations), and O Emmanuel. Also, each one refers to the prophecy of Isaiah of the coming of the Messiah. Let’s now look at each antiphon with just a sample of Isaiah’s related prophecies :

O Sapientia: “O Wisdom, O holy Word of God, you govern all creation with your strong yet tender care. Come and show your people the way to salvation.” Isaiah had prophesied, “The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a spirit of counsel and of strength, a spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord, and his delight shall be the fear of the Lord.” (11:2-3), and “Wonderful is His counsel and great is His wisdom.” (28:29).

O Adonai: “O sacred Lord of ancient Israel, who showed yourself to Moses in the burning bush, who gave him the holy law on Sinai mountain: come, stretch out your mighty hand to set us free.” Isaiah had prophesied, “But He shall judge the poor with justice, and decide aright for the land’s afflicted. He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked. Justice shall be the band around his waist, and faithfulness a belt upon his hips.” (11:4-5); and “Indeed the Lord will be there with us, majestic; yes the Lord our judge, the Lord our lawgiver, the Lord our king, he it is who will save us.” (33:22).

O Radix Jesse: “O Flower of Jesse’s stem, you have been raised up as a sign for all peoples; kings stand silent in your presence; the nations bow down in worship before you. Come, let nothing keep you from coming to our aid.” Isaiah had prophesied, “But a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom.” (11:1), and A On that day, the root of Jesse, set up as a signal for the nations, the Gentiles shall seek out, for his dwelling shall be glorious.” (11:10). Remember also that Jesse was the father of King David, and Micah had prophesied that the Messiah would be of the house and lineage of David and be born in David’s city, Bethlehem (Micah 5:1).

O Clavis David: “O Key of David, O royal Power of Israel controlling at your will the gate of Heaven: Come, break down the prison walls of death for those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death; and lead your captive people into freedom.” Isaiah had prophesied, AI will place the Key of the House of David on His shoulder; when he opens, no one will shut, when he shuts, no one will open.” (22:22), and “His dominion is vast and forever peaceful, from David’s throne, and over His kingdom, which he confirms and sustains by judgment and justice, both now and forever.” (9:6).

O Oriens: “O Radiant Dawn, splendor of eternal light, sun of justice: come, shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.” Isaiah had prophesied, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shown.” (9:1).

O Rex Gentium: “O King of all the nations, the only joy of every human heart; O Keystone of the mighty arch of man, come and save the creature you fashioned from the dust.” Isaiah had prophesied, “For a child is born to us, a son is given us; upon his shoulder dominion rests. They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace.” (9:5), and “He shall judge between the nations, and impose terms on many peoples. They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; one nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again.” (2:4) .

O Emmanuel: “O Emmanuel, king and lawgiver, desire of the nations, Savior of all people, come and set us free, Lord our God.” Isaiah had prophesied, “The Lord himself will give you this sign: the Virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel.”

Catholic Resource Center

This tradition is also practiced by the Anglican Church. They are so important that should the Third Sunday of Advent (Gaudete Sunday) fall on the 17th the O Antiphon replaces the antiphon for the Evening Prayer.

Spe salvi

SPE SALVI facti sumus ait sanctus Paulus Romanis et nobis quoque.
"In hope we were saved, says Saint Paul to the Romans, and likewise to us" so begins Pope Benedict's second encyclical, following Deus Caritas Est, God is Love.
Like the his first encyclical letter I found it very easy to read, full of deep Christian wisdom, filled with quotations from the Epistles and the writings of the Doctors of the Church and other philosophers both divine and diabolic.
Though not directed particularly at Liberation Theology the encyclical makes it quite clear that

The critique of Heaven is transformed into the critique of earth, the critique of theology into the critique of politics...

Thus Biblical hope in the Kingdom of God has been displaced by hope in the kingdom of man, the hope of a better world which would be the real “Kingdom of God”.

Striving for perfection on Earth, be it for social justice or economic fairness is a task which never ends

What this means is that every generation has the task of engaging anew in the arduous search for the right way to order human affairs; this task is never simply completed.

Our hope is not hope for this world but for the hereafter:

Christians here on earth do not have a permanent homeland, but seek one which lies in the future.

In this future homeland, made available to us through Jesus Christ is where our hope lies.

Let us say once again: we need the greater and lesser hopes that keep us going day by day. But these are not enough without the great hope, which must surpass everything else. This great hope can only be God, who encompasses the whole of reality and who can bestow upon us what we, by ourselves, cannot attain.

The translation of the encyclical itself is very good. Better than some of the translations of the Holy Father's writings which have been professional published. It is posted on the Vatican web site here.

More on stem cells

Reports from the Weekly Standard state that several groups working independently have managed to turn adult cells into embryonic stem cells, without having to use babies, human eggs, or other morally indefensible techniques. It seems that America's President, who supported research on such techniques all along, instead of the unproven and ethically unsupportable use of stem cells from aborted human babies, was right.
Have no doubt some supporters of embryonic stem cell research will fight tooth and nail to continue their research, even in the face of evidence that it is scientifically unnecessary as well as morally bankrupt. Most competent scientists will look at what the research has shown and abandon this line of work. Of course morally ethical scientists will have been working on this alternate process or another field of research all along. Thank God that He has rewarded their efforts so quickly. And may he bless those who have stood the line against the used of embryonic stem cells from the unborn.

The Way of the Student

Amy Welborn has an excellent post on voting, living and minimalism.

Busy Days

Between the many autumn tasks that have been piling up and working I have been reminiscent in my blogging.
The warnings on the Golden Compass have reached my local parish. It's nice to see that word is getting around. I fear that unless people stay away in groves that New Line Cinema will not get the message. The worst part is that the film maker deliberately down played the anti-Christian message of the story. Was this done in an effort to subvert our children or simply a callus effort to prevent bad publicity which might affect movie gross? If it's the later they have obviously failed.
As with many movies of questionable value I have to make the decision on whether to see the movie, so as to review it, or to simply count on other bloggers to review the propaganda piece. This is most likely what I'll do, so as to minimize New Line's profit.
So pass it on. With any luck the Main Stream Media will pick this up eventually, though I don't count on a friendly hearing from them.

Exploration

I might have mentioned it before, but there was a time when I used or at least tested every new trend in Internet software out there. I was an early adopter of what would eventually become AOL. I used Internet Relay Chat long before AIM became fashionable. I download new programs by FTP before GNU was a bastion of free, quality software, and BitTorrent allowed huge files to be quickly downloaded.
This might actually be a trend that is related to the fact that I'm old as dirt. I can remember a time when I had read every Science Fiction book in the stacks of the Chicago Public Library, which was effectively every Sci-Fi book which had been published in English up to that time. The number was not really that large. Likewise there was a time when I at least tested out every Role Playing Game, and a good percentage of the commercially produced wargames on the market.
Those times are long past. The Science fiction section of Barnes and Noble has more selections than I would ever have time to read. While Role Playing Games are in a decline, with only one or two companies still making enough to exclusively publish them as a full time business, there are still dozens of hobby companies who turn out hundreds of games a year which are available via the Internet, if not from stores locally.
As for Internet technology. I don't have the time to investigate trends like Second Life, World of Warcraft or Facebook, each of which could take months of use to actually get proficient with.
In some ways it might seem that the Christian is in a similar boat. We have two thousand years of supporting documentation for the twin pillars of Scripture and Tradition. Everything from St. Clement of Alexandria to Benedict XVI is available to us. How can anyone possibly expect to read what has been written?
Well you can't. Does that mean we should sit back and leave it to the theologians? Not hardly. To start with we should realize that striving for a greater appreciation of our faith, through the reading and study of the great teachers of Christendom, The Fathers of the Church, the Doctors of the Church, the writings of the Saints, and even the works of present scholars, is the work of a lifetime. We will never be able to read them all, but we should read what we can.
Start with the Church Fathers. Much of what we believe was defended and explained by them. Not all were Saints, and a few were even heretical at some portion of their lives. The combined wisdom of these men are the basis upon which much of the scholarship of the succeeding generations were built.
Certainly the Doctors of the Church should also be included in your reading list. As given by Wikipedia: "The Doctors' works vary greatly in subject and form." Some were mystics, others systematic theologians, some defenders against heresy, others illuminators of doctrine.
The easiest way to actually accomplish this study is not to go it alone. Reading Aquinas as a book club selection seems much more useful to me than spending time on a sleazy bestseller. Many of these volumes have study guides available to assist a group in reading them.
So gather together a group of like minded friends and set out to explore the foundations of our faith. Just remember there's always more to explore and you'll never see it all this side of the vale.

Get on out there

The Holy Father's vicar for the Diocese of Rome has express the hope that religious, especially young priests, brothers and nuns will use the tools of the information age, blogging in particular to reach young people.