O Emmanuel,[1] king and lawgiver,[2] desire of the nations,[3] Savior of all people, come and set us free, Lord our God.
We have here a variation on the theme that Jesus, who is Emmanuel – God with us – is present in the Church and in the world as king and lawmaker; yet we need him to come again, we desire him to come and set us free from ourselves through Christ, through his saving birth, life and teaching, death and resurrection and his return in glory, all of which are implicit in our Advent prayer. Vespers on the 24th is no longer Advent, but the first Vespers of Christmas, whose special antiphons take up the theme of the Birth of our Savior.
In Advent, Christ rested in Mary—still, silent, helpless, utterly dependent. The Creator trusted Himself to His creature.
He trusted the expression of His love to her, the expression of God’s love for the world, and of His love of His Father. Just as the work of His love would be trusted to us, in His life in us.
He was dumb, her voice was His voice. He was still, her footsteps were His journeys. He was blind, her eyes were His seeing. His hands were folded, her hands did the work of His hands. His life was her life, His heartbeat was the beating of her heart.
This was a foreshadowing of what the Incarnation would mean for us; for in us too, Christ rests as He rested in Mary. From that moment when the Christ life is conceived in us, our life is intended for one thing, the expression of His love, His love for God and for the world. Our words are to be the words that He wants to speak, we must go wherever He wants to go, we must see and look at whatever He wants to see and look at, the work that our hands do must be the work that His hands want to do, our life the living of His life, our loves the loving of His heart.
Commentary: In this reflection, Caryll Houselander captures the mystery of Advent as a time when Christ, though fully divine, chose to be entirely dependent on Mary. His trust in her—His silent resting within her and reliance on her for every act of love—is a profound image of how He desires to dwell within us. Just as Mary’s life became an expression of Christ’s love, so too are we invited to embody His presence in the world. Houselander’s words remind Catholics that, from the moment we accept Christ into our lives, we are called to be His heart, His voice, His hands, and His vision in the world, reflecting His love for the Father and for all people.
Personal Reflection: Consider the ways in which your life can reflect Christ’s love more fully. What words, actions, or ways of seeing others might you allow Christ to transform in you, so that you become a clearer expression of His love in the world?
Quote taken from – Caryll Houselander The Passion of the Infant Christ, Sheed & Ward, 1949
O Lord, infant Jesus, inspire us to be repulsed by sin! You, Lord, are holy but we are not. We pray that you will make us holy and keep us from temptation this Christmas.
Divine Infant,
after the wonders of Your birth in Bethlehem,
You wished to extend Your infinite mercy to the whole world
by calling the Wise Men by heavenly inspiration to Your crib,
which was in this way changed into a royal throne.
You graciously received those holy men
who were obedient to the Divine call
and hastened to Your feet.
They recognized and worshipped You as Prince of Peace,
the Redeemer of mankind,
and the very Son of God.
Show us also Your goodness and almighty power.
Enlighten our minds,
strengthen our wills,
and inflame our hearts to know You,
to serve You,
and to love You in this life,
that we may merit to find our joy in You eternally in the life to come.
Jesus, most powerful Child,
We implore You again to help us
with the intentions we hold in the depths of our hearts.
Divine Child, great omnipotent God,
I implore through Your most Holy Mother’s most powerful intercession,
and through the boundless mercy of Your omnipotence as God,
for a favorable answer to my prayer during this Novena.
Grant us the grace of possessing You eternally
with Mary and Joseph
and of adoring You with Your holy angels and saints.
The Fourth Sunday of Advent – Building a Kingdom of Love with Msgr. John Esseff
On the Fourth Sunday of Advent, Msgr. Esseff reflects on the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary; her profound humility and obedience, which serve as the cornerstone of salvation through Christ. Drawing on scriptural passages, he highlights Mary’s pivotal role in the Incarnation, her identification with the “lowly,” and her deep faith in God’s will. He intertwines Mary’s example with the Christmas story. It inspires us to embrace the simplicity, humility, and joy embodied by the Holy Family. He also shares his personal experiences celebrating Christmas in Peru, illustrating how material poverty often coincides with spiritual richness and authentic joy.
Families should cultivate virtues of love, sacrifice, and service. Msgr. Esseff recounts the lives of saints and personal heroes, including his own mother and grandfather, as examples of humility and holiness in everyday life.
Discerning Hearts Reflection Questions
The Role of Humility in Salvation How does Mary’s humility and submission to God’s will inspire your understanding of obedience in your own spiritual life?
Mary as the Model Disciple In what ways can you imitate Mary’s faith and trust in God during times of uncertainty or difficulty?
The Simplicity of Christmas How can you embrace the simplicity and humility of the Holy Family in your own Christmas preparations and celebrations?
Recognizing Spiritual Richness in Poverty What lessons can you draw from the spiritually rich yet materially poor communities Monsignor Esseff describes, and how can they transform your perspective on gratitude?
The Transformative Power of the Nativity How can reflecting on the nativity scene help you encounter Christ more deeply in your daily life and relationships?
Living as Witnesses of Joy and Peace How can you radiate the joy and peace of Christmas to others in your family, community, and workplace?
The Saints as Examples of Holiness Who are the everyday “saints” in your life that inspire you to grow in holiness, and how can you emulate their virtues?
Preparing Your Heart for Christ What steps can you take during Advent to spiritually prepare your heart for Christ’s arrival this Christmas?
“Mary set out
and traveled to the hill country in haste
to a town of Judah,
where she entered the house of Zechariah
and greeted Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting,
the infant leaped in her womb,
and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit,
cried out in a loud voice and said,
“Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
And how does this happen to me,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears,
the infant in my womb leaped for joy.
Blessed are you who believed
that what was spoken to you by the Lord
would be fulfilled.”
Msgr. John A. Esseff is a Roman Catholic priest in the Diocese of Scranton. He was ordained on May 30, 1953, by the late Bishop William J. Hafey, D.D. at St. Peter’s Cathedral in Scranton, PA. Msgr. Esseff served a retreat director and confessor to St. Mother Teresa. He continues to offer direction and retreats for the sisters of the missionaries of charity around the world. Msgr. Esseff encountered St. Padre Pio, who would become a spiritual father to him. He has lived in areas around the world, serving in the Pontifical missions, a Catholic organization established by St. Pope John Paul II to bring the Good News to the world especially to the poor. Msgr. Esseff assisted the founders of the Institute for Priestly Formation and continues to serve as a spiritual director for the Institute. He continues to serve as a retreat leader and director to bishops, priests and sisters and seminarians and other religious leaders around the world.
From a commentary of Luke by Venerable Bede, priest
(Lib 1, 46-55: CCL 120, 37-39)
The Magnificat
Mary said: My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. The Lord has exalted me by a gift so great, so unheard of, that language is useless to describe it, and the depths of love in my heart can scarcely grasp it. I offer then all the powers of my soul in praise and thanksgiving. As I contemplate his greatness, which knows no limits, I joyfully surrender my whole life, my senses, my judgment, for my spirit rejoices in the eternal Godhead of that Jesus, that Savior, whom I have conceived in this world of time.
The Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.
Mary looks back to the beginning of her song, where she said: My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord. Only that soul for whom the Lord in his love does great things can proclaim his greatness with fitting praise and encourage those who share her desire and purpose, saying: Join with me in proclaiming the greatness of the Lord; let us extol his name together.
Those who know the Lord, yet refuse to proclaim his greatness and sanctify his name to the limit of their power, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. His name is called holy because in the sublimity of his unique power he surpasses every creature and is far removed from all that he had made.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel for he has remembered his promise of mercy. In a beautiful phrase Mary calls Israel the servant of the Lord. The Lord came to his aid to save him. Israel is an obedient and humble servant, in the words of Hosea: Israel was a servant, and I loved him.
Those who refuse to be humble cannot be saved. They cannot say with the prophet: See, God comes to my aid; the Lord is the helper of my soul. But anyone who makes himself humble like a little child is greater in the kingdom of heaven.
The promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children for ever. This does not refer to the physical descendants of Abraham, but to his spiritual children. These are his descendants, sprung not from the flesh only, but who, whether circumcised or not, have followed him in faith. Circumcised as he was, Abraham believed, and this was credited to him as an act of righteousness.
The coming of the Savior was promised to Abraham and to his descendants for ever. These are the children of promise, to whom it is said: If you belong to Christ, then you are descendants of Abraham, heirs in accordance with the promise.
COLLECT
O God, who, seeing the human race fallen into death,
willed to redeem it by the coming of your Only Begotten Son,
grant, we pray,
that those who confess his Incarnation with humble fervor
may merit his company as their Redeemer.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Sharon Doran serves as the teaching director of “Seeking Truth.” An experienced Bible Study teacher, Sharon has a passion for scripture that will motivate and challenge you to immerse yourself in God’s Word and apply His message to your everyday life.
“Seeking Truth” is an in-depth Catholic Bible Study, commissioned by the Archdiocese of Omaha in response to John Paul II’s call to the New Evangelization as well as Pope Benedict XVI’s exhortation for all Catholics to study scripture. To learn more go to:www.seekingtruth.net
O King of all the nations, the only joy of every human heart,[1] O Keystone[2] of the mighty arch of man;[3] come and save the creature you fashioned from the dust.[4]
This antiphon rejoices that the Lord is king not just of the Jews but us Gentiles as well, who makes them one people, one temple, in which he is the keystone, the crowning glory that holds all in place.[5] We beg the Lord to return again to save weak humanity made in Gods’ image but disfigured by sin.
The Infant Christ is the whole Christ. Christ was not more God, more Christ, more man, on the Cross than He was in His Mother’s womb. His first tear, His first smile, His first breath, His first pulsation in the womb of His Mother, could have redeemed the world.
In fact Christ chose the life of growth and work and suffering and the death on the Cross which we know, but, by His own choice, all this was to depend on a human being giving herself to Him in His infancy, giving her own humanity to the actual making of that infant’s humanity and giving Him her life in which to rest.
If all in whom Christ lives at all, in whom He is an infant—which means anyone whose soul is alive at all—surrendered themselves to Him, resting in Him, that He might rest in them, in each one of them the world’s redemption would begin as it began in Mary, the Mother of God.
Christ is formed in us, and we are formed into Christ, when we rest in Him and He rests in us.
Commentary:Caryll Houselander powerfully conveys that Christ, even as an infant, was fully divine and fully capable of redeeming the world. The Incarnation was a complete expression of God’s presence from the very beginning, even in the smallest and most hidden moments of His life. Yet, by His own choice, Christ lived a fully human life of growth, dependence, and suffering, all beginning with Mary’s “yes” and her nurturing of His humanity. Houselander suggests that we, too, can participate in this mystery by surrendering to Christ within us, allowing His presence to grow and work through us.
For Catholics, this resonates with the understanding of Mary as the model disciple and with the call to embody Christ in our own lives, so that the world’s redemption may continue through our union with Him.
Personal Reflection: Reflect on how you might rest in Christ today, surrendering your own desires and fears to allow Him to take root in you. In what ways can you make space for Christ to “grow” within, following Mary’s example of trust and openness?
Caryll Houselander The Passion of the Infant Christ, Sheed & Ward, 1949
O Lord, infant Jesus, move us to forgive others as you forgive us! Your Divine Mercy is unending! We pray for Your Divine Mercy on us and that we may participate in Your mercy by forgiving others this Christmas.
Divine Infant,
after the wonders of Your birth in Bethlehem,
You wished to extend Your infinite mercy to the whole world
by calling the Wise Men by heavenly inspiration to Your crib,
which was in this way changed into a royal throne.
You graciously received those holy men
who were obedient to the Divine call
and hastened to Your feet.
They recognized and worshipped You as Prince of Peace,
the Redeemer of mankind,
and the very Son of God.
Show us also Your goodness and almighty power.
Enlighten our minds,
strengthen our wills,
and inflame our hearts to know You,
to serve You,
and to love You in this life,
that we may merit to find our joy in You eternally in the life to come.
Jesus, most powerful Child,
We implore You again to help us
with the intentions we hold in the depths of our hearts.
Divine Child, great omnipotent God,
I implore through Your most Holy Mother’s most powerful intercession,
and through the boundless mercy of Your omnipotence as God,
for a favorable answer to my prayer during this Novena.
Grant us the grace of possessing You eternally
with Mary and Joseph
and of adoring You with Your holy angels and saints.
Amen.
splendour of light eternal and sun of righteousness:
Come and enlighten those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.
Sharon Doran serves as the teaching director of “Seeking Truth.” An experienced Bible Study teacher, Sharon has a passion for scripture that will motivate and challenge you to immerse yourself in God’s Word and apply His message to your everyday life.
“Seeking Truth” is an in-depth Catholic Bible Study, commissioned by the Archdiocese of Omaha in response to John Paul II’s call to the New Evangelization as well as Pope Benedict XVI’s exhortation for all Catholics to study scripture. To learn more go to:www.seekingtruth.net
Seventh Antiphon – December 23nd: O Emmanuel
