“O WISDOM” (DECEMBER 17)- A REFLECTION ON THE GREAT “O” ANTIPHONS FOR THE SECOND PART OF ADVENT

Dear friends, today, we begin the second part of the Advent Season; at Holy Mass, prayers are appropriate for each day, intensifying our preparation for the advent of our Lord Jesus Christ. Another point to emphasize are the “O” Antiphons, sung or recited from 17 – 23 December (Magnificat Antiphons at Vespers). The “O” Antiphons, historically, were composed between the 7th and 8th centuries, being a summation of Christology, the old Church, an expressive desire for salvation, both of Israel in the Old Testament and of the Church in the New Testament. They are short prayers, addressed to Christ, which sum up the spirit of Advent and of Christmas. They express in a special way, the admiration of the Church in the face of the mystery of God made man, seeking an ever-deeper understanding of his mystery and the urgent final supplication: “Come, do not delay!” All seven antiphons are supplications to Christ, each day invoked with a different title, a Messianic title taken from the Old Testament.

Having said this, let us consider the Antiphon of today, December 17: “O Wisdom, you came forth from the mouth of the Most High and, reaching from beginning to end, you ordered all things mightily and sweetly. Come, and teach us the way of prudence.”

Dear friends, Christ is the strength and wisdom of God (Cf. 1 Cor 1:24). The prophet Isaiah, when describing the gifts that the Spirit of the Lord bestows on the Child, (the Immanuel – God with us), puts the spirit of intelligence and wisdom first (Cf. Is 11,2). He who is wise acts with prudence (Cf. 1 Kings 3,9-12). In the loving expectation of his birth, we ask God the Father that we may discover, in the teachings of his Son, prudence, as the gift of his infinite wisdom, to guide us in our actions.