Today marks the beginning of the final period of the liturgical season of Advent. In the liturgy that is celebrated during these eight days, the gospel passages present the story that led up to the birth of Jesus.
In today's gospel passage, the focus is on Jesus' genealogy (cf Mt 1:1-17). Rare are the accounts of such histories, except in the case of royalty, especially at the time when this history was written, however the gospel writer wanted to be sure that we who read these words today are able to trace Jesus' roots, thus also proving the prophecy about the Saviour being from the house of David to be true.
All this detail is a reassurance for us that through baptism, we too are part of this extended family of faith, and therefore the coming festivities are part of our family's remembrance and celebration of God's good favour shown to all of creation.
In accordance with a very ancient custom within the Church, we encounter the O Antiphons in the liturgy of these final seven days prior to the celebration of Christmas. These references to various names for Christ which have been used throughout the centuries appear in the gospel acclamations for the Mass that is celebrated each day during the next week.
Collectively, these short phrases are referred to as the O Antiphons because the title of each one begins with the vocative particle 'O'. Each antiphon refers to a name for Christ or one of his attributes. Over the next seven days, I will present these antiphons along with an example of how it is used in the prayer of the Church.
Have a great day.
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