Corpus Christi Blog

The Feast of the Holy Family is a good reminder that the family is the domestic church. Jesus learned his Jewish faith from his mother and father, Mary and Joseph. At home, he studied scripture, learned prayers, and celebrated liturgical feasts. Through his family, Jesus first learned that his Heavenly Father was loving and merciful, and that heaven was his eternal home. The Holy Family provides a perfect model of a domestic church for our own families to follow.

It is the fourth and final Sunday of Advent. We have been reflecting on some of the titles for Jesus taken from the ancient prayers of the O Antiphons, which the Church sings during Advent in anticipation for the coming Messiah — Wisdom, Lord, Root of Jesse, Key of David, Rising Dawn, King of Nations, and Emmanuel. As humanity cries out for its savior, the Church uses these various titles to emphasize the truths of who this savior will be and the revelations that will come with him. Now, we will take a look at his most important title, the one which all of the others point to as the climax.

As we continue to await Christmas, we come to the third installment in our four-part Advent series exploring the titles of the Messiah from the O Antiphons, the ancient prayers sung by the Church in the final days before Christmas. Each Antiphon reveals a facet of Christ’s identity and mission foretold in Scripture — He is Wisdom, Lord, Root of Jesse, Key of David, Rising Dawn, King of Nations, and Emmanuel. We have already covered the titles of Wisdom and Root of Jesse. Now we continue to meditate with anticipation, the coming Messiah under another title:

As we begin the second week of Advent, the Church invites us to deepen our understanding of whom it is we are awaiting. Advent is not simply a countdown to Christmas; it is a season of preparation for the coming of Christ—past, present, and future. This year, we are reflecting on four prophetic titles for the coming Messiah from the ancient O Antiphons. From within the ancient prophecies of Isaiah and other Old Testament texts, seven titles of the promised Messiah are revealed to us: Wisdom, Lord, Root of Jesse, Key of David, Rising Dawn, King of Nations, and Emmanuel. Each title helps us recognize how Jesus fulfills God’s plan of salvation throughout history.