Monday 19 December
Giovanni di Paolo di Grazia. The Annunciation to Zacharias (detail) ca. 1455–60.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
O Radix Jesse
O Root of Jesse, standing as a sign among the peoples
before you kings will shute their mouths
to you the nations will make their prayer:
Come and deliver us, and delay no longer.
(cf. Isaiah 11.10, 45.14, 52.15; Romans 15.12)
Bob Chilcott. Advent Antiphons, no. 3. Queens' College Choir, Cambridge, cond. Silas Wollston.
Homelessness at Christmas time, by Janice Clark
Sheltering God,
your protection for us
is made known
in images of rock and mountain,
wings and arms,
tent and fold.
A protection that makes us
feel safe, secure, and confident -
with knowledge and assurance that removes
our vulnerability, and our loneliness,
our fears and our doubts.
You have promised to be a constant presence,
light, warmth and comfort,
never failing, always near.
And yet, within your world
thousands of people lack shelter
and cannot really call where they live
a home.
Their lives are impoverished,
living in a space put together
from whatever scraps they can gather.
The rain leaks through,
the heat of the sun is brutal,
the dust irritates
and water and airborne diseases flourish.
Yet for many this is their home
where new life is conceived,
where love is shown,
where characters are formed,
where faith is passed on
and where an understanding of your protection
Is experienced.
God, fully human, yet fully divine,
you know what it is like
to be have no real home -
born into a stable,
no vacancies in the places of hospitality,
forced to flee as a refugee
with life threatening attempts on your life.
In the seasons of Advent and Christmas
your frailty is remembered,
your vulnerability acknowledged,
your purpose for the world revered.
Come again, to give protection and shelter.
Come again to strengthen the weak
and to subdue the proud.
Come to our own vulnerability
and enable all to offer
hope to a world in need.
Judges 13:2-7, 24-25
There was a certain man of Zorah, of the tribe of the Danites, whose name was Manoah. His wife was barren, having borne no children. And the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, ‘Although you are barren, having borne no children, you shall conceive and bear a son. Now be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, or to eat anything unclean, for you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor is to come on his head, for the boy shall be a nazirite to God from birth. It is he who shall begin to deliver Israel from the hand of the Philistines.’ Then the woman came and told her husband, ‘A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like that of an angel of God, most awe-inspiring; I did not ask him where he came from, and he did not tell me his name; but he said to me, “You shall conceive and bear a son. So then drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for the boy shall be a nazirite to God from birth to the day of his death.” ’
The woman bore a son, and named him Samson. The boy grew, and the Lord blessed him. The spirit of the Lord began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.
Psalm 71:17-21
17. O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.
18. So even to old age and grey hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to all the generations to come. Your power
19. and your righteousness, O God, reach the high heavens. You who have done great things, O God, who is like you?
20. You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again.
21. You will increase my honour, and comfort me once again.
Luke 1:5-25
In the days of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah. His wife was a descendant of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. Both of them were righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord. But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were getting on in years.
Once when he was serving as priest before God and his section was on duty, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and offer incense. Now at the time of the incense-offering, the whole assembly of the people was praying outside. Then there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was terrified; and fear overwhelmed him. But the angel said to him, ‘Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John. You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink; even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. He will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. With the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him, to turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.’ Zechariah said to the angel, ‘How will I know that this is so? For I am an old man, and my wife is getting on in years.’ The angel replied, ‘I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. But now, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time, you will become mute, unable to speak, until the day these things occur.’
Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah, and wondered at his delay in the sanctuary. When he did come out, he could not speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. He kept motioning to them and remained unable to speak. When his time of service was ended, he went to his home.
After those days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she remained in seclusion. She said, ‘This is what the Lord has done for me when he looked favourably on me and took away the disgrace I have endured among my people.’
God rest ye merry, Gentlemen. Pentatonix
Hieronymous Praetorius. Angelus Ad Pastores Ait. VOCES8, Kirche St Quirinus, in Tegernsee, Germany.
May the Lord, when he comes, find us watching and waiting. Amen.