December 19

 
Traditional Antiphon
O Root of Jesse, who standest as the ensign of the people; before whom kings shall not open their lips; to whom the nations shall pray; come and deliver us; tarry now no more.
 
Liturgy of the Hours
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.
 
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
O come, O Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
From depths of hell thy people save,
And give them victory over the grave.
 
Virtue: Temperance – “Temperance is the moral virtue that moderates the attraction of pleasures.”[i]We ask in the antiphon for Christ to delay no longer to tarry no more. It is the pleasures of our world that are immediate, right now. We can easily indulge and do not have to wait. Many times while we are “waiting” for Christ, who seems to take too long, we indulge in worldly pleasure which are “right now”. Temperance helps us to moderate or control the immediate attraction to pleasure and to always seek Christ, who gives us the greatest pleasure. The pleasures of the world often lead to addictions of which we ask Christ to “come and deliver us”.
 
Sacrament: Baptism – Baptism is the “ensign of the people” it is the Sacrament that claims us for Christ and makes us adopted “Sons of the Father”. At our Baptism we are “signed” with the cross. It is this Sacrament that kings and nations have bowed down and become silent over, as they and their people have been baptized. Clovis, who was the first Barbarian tribal leader to embrace the Catholic Faith, and is credited as being the Father of Catholic France, was so moved by the story of Christ crucified that just in being told about the crucifixion he and a thousand of his soldiers were baptized and converted. It is Baptism that gives us the Grace to “deliver us” from sin. It is the answer to our prayer in the Our Father, “deliver us from evil”.
 
It is this root of Jesse, that will grow into the tree of the cross, from which Christ the “fruit of the womb” will hang. As the tree in the garden contained fruit which lead to death and sin, the tree of the cross and the fruit which it contains, which is Jesus, leads to life and grace. When do we partake of this fruit? We partake of the fruit when we receive Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, the Eucharist. We are unable to receive this fruit however until we are Baptized and living out our vows of Baptism (being in the state of Grace).
 
Search: Baptism: To Put on Christ
 
Reflection:
At length, O Son of Jesse! thou art approaching the city of thy ancestors. The Ark of the Lord has risen, and journeys, with the God that is in her, to the place of her rest. "How beautiful are thy steps, O thou daughter of the Prince," [Cant. vii. 1.] now that thou art bringing to the cities of Juda their salvation! The Angels escort thee, thy faithful Joseph lavishes his love upon thee, heaven delights in thee, and our earth thrills with joy to bear thus upon itself its Creator and its Queen. Go forward, O Mother of God and Mother of Men! Speed thee, thou propitiatory that holdest within thee the divine Manna which gives us life! Our hearts are with thee, and count thy steps. Like thy royal ancestor David, "we will enter not into the dwelling of our house, nor go up into the bed whereon we lie, nor give sleep to our eyes, nor rest to our temples, until we have found a place in our hearts for the Lord whom thou bearest, a tabernacle for this God of Jacob." [Ps. cxxxi. 3-5.] Come, then, O Root of Jesse! thus hid in this Ark of purity; thou wilt soon appear before thy people as the standard round which all that would conquer must rally. Then, their enemies, the Kings of the world, will be silenced, and the nations will offer thee their prayers. Hasten thy coming, dear Jesus! come and conquer all our enemies, and deliver us.

[i] Catechism of the Catholic Church; Section 1809