The days leading up to Christmas have a special set of readings to help us reflect on the feast. The “O” antiphons — used as the gospel acclamation and during the liturgy of the hours — set a theme for each day. Today’s antiphon: O Root of Jesse’s stem, sign of God’s love for all his people: come to save us without delay! Jesse was the father of King David and this day provides the occasion to look at the history which led up to the coming of Jesus. The Old Testament lesson and the gospel are echoes of each other so show how the plan of God has been at work throughout the centuries. When we see the family tree of Jesus — which both St. Matthew and St. Luke include in their gospels — we see a collection of saints and sinners, we find occasions of triumph and tragedy. In other words, the family of Jesus is much like our families! Reflecting on all the history that produced Jesus we should understand that God is at work in our lives as well, that our own history is a salvation history providing us the occasion to understand that even today God is with us, Emmanuel.
