Third Friday of Advent
Readings: Judges 13:2-7,24-25; Luke 1:5-25

"So has the Lord done for me at a time when he has seen fit to take away my disgrace before others." (Luke 1:25)

In the season of Advent, we are promised that life can come from barrenness. Often this promise challenges our capacity to believe. Our lives can sometimes seem barren, barren of love, barren of intimacy, barren of work and creativity, barren of hope or options or dreams. How is life to appear when we feel so lifeless? Advent’s vision is that life appears in the midst of our doubts and anxieties in unexpected times and places. The challenge for us who wait patiently is to be open to the possibilities when they are introduced or announced. We are challenged to be open to the movement of God’s Spirit especially in those times when we experience life as empty.

Barrenness, powerlessness, absence, or lack is often experienced as evidence of God’s disfavor. We can be tempted to believe that God has abandoned us. The Blood of Christ shed on the cross is that sign and pledge that God identifies with us in our defeats and our brokenness. Zechariah and Elizabeth were able to rejoice in the dawn of God’s promise in their time of waiting and expectation. The Promise may not be fully realized in our experience either, yet we are challenged by the doubt and faith of our ancestors to wait in hope for the fullness of the promised gift.



What are my deepest hopes and desires?
Where has God spoken to me in my brokenness?
Where can I be a sign or pledge of hope to others today?

Reflection by: Rev. Jeffrey Keyes, C.PP.S. (Province of the Pacific)

posted by Fr. Jeffrey Keyes, C.PP.S. on 1:46 PM link

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O Radix Jesse
"O" Antiphon for December 19

O Root of Jesse,
You who stand as a sign for the people,
Before whom kings will remain silent,
Before whom the nations will plead,
Come to free us now, do not delay.


I thought I would sing it in its original Latin today
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The tune from the Liber is just slightly different from that which is found in the Dominican Book

posted by Fr. Jeffrey Keyes, C.PP.S. on 1:14 PM link

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The Lord, He Comes
by Jeffrey Keyes, CPPS (c) 1985 Vineyard Pastoral Music Ministry and Jeffrey Keyes
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posted by Fr. Jeffrey Keyes, C.PP.S. on 11:25 AM link

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