O Sapientia (Wisdom)

O come, O Wisdom from on high,
who orderst all things mightily,
To us the path of knowledge show,
And teach us in her ways to go.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel!

Many people mistake that the scriptures tell a story of man searching for God; however, scripture is, in fact, the story of God searching for man.  The incarnation is the ultimate proof for this claim that many scripture scholars have made throughout the tradition of the Church.  God becomes man in Jesus Christ and literally searches for the stray sheep, a suffering and lost humanity. 

In the ancient world it was thought that man’s true food, that which would nourish him as a human, is the Logos, eternal wisdom: this same Logos now truly becomes food for us out of Love.  The Eucharist draws us into Jesus’ act of self-gift on the cross.  The word became flesh so that we might know God’s love for us.  God is love and by God becoming incarnate in Christ Jesus we are drawn into God and his love for us.  This is done through the self-offering of Christ in the Eucharist.  Communion draws us out of ourselves and toward God where we become one body.  The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass includes the reality both of being loved and of loving others in turn.  We are able to love others because we have received love from God.

God sent his only Son into the world so that we can have eternal life.  We couldn’t have redemption without the cross and we can’t have the cross without the incarnation.  This is why Christmas is so important and we know these revelations of the Gospel because of the wisdom given to us through the Word/ Logos who was made incarnate by God.  

During this upcoming week I will offer daily reflections on the “O” Antiphons.  This is an ancient custom practiced by the Church to assist the faithful in preparing for Christmas by recalling the biblical titles for Jesus Christ.   These titles have been worked into the favored Advent hymn O Come Emmanuel as you see at the beginning of this blog.  Each day I plan to offer a short reflection on the theology of the Antiphon along with the hymn verse and a short prayer from the Magnificat Advent Companion.  I pray you find these reflections useful and that they assist in preparing your own heart for the coming of our incarnate Lord, Jesus Christ.

O Wisdom, you came forth from the mouth of the Most High, and reached from end to end, and disposed of all things sweetly and mightily: come and teach us the way of prudence. Amen.