Notes from the Hours: Advent Antiphons

This is our heavenly King; He comes with power and might to save the nations, alleluia.

Lord Jesus, You are our King. Rule over us. Give us the grace we need to conform our minds, our hearts, and our wills to You. May we accept You as our Leader, now and always. May we follow You. May we never turn away from You. May we never reject Your rule.

For You come with power and might to save all of us. Once You came as a tiny Baby. You seemed powerless, and in a human sense, You were. You were dependent upon Your Mother for everything. Yet Your power and might was always and is always divine, for You are God, and You use that power and might to save all peoples, if they accept You. But first, You once again became powerless (at least in the eyes of men) as You hung on the cross and died to free us from our sins.

Daughter of Jerusalem, rejoice and be glad; your King will come to you. Zion, do not fear, Your Savior hastens on His way.

Lord Jesus, Israel waited many centuries for the Messiah to come, but when You finally arrived, You were not what Your people expected. So many of them wanted a political king, one who would defeat the Romans and give Israel worldly prestige. Instead, You, the Savior, redeemed Your people not from the power of the Romans but from the power of sin and death.

May we, Your Church, always rejoice and be glad that our King has come and will come again, that You come to us always in the Eucharist, that You visit us in the depths of our souls. May we never fear the world or the enemy, for our King, our Savior, is with us always.

Let us cleanse our hearts for the coming of our great King, that we may be ready to welcome Him; He is coming and will not delay.

Lord Jesus, cleanse our hearts. Forgive us our sins. Scrub away the spiritual muck that accumulates in our souls. Purify our minds. Strengthen our wills. Make us ready to welcome You with joy...every morning when we wake up, every time we receive You in Holy Communion, every moment of our day, during Advent, on Christmas morning, at the hour of our death.

You are coming, Jesus. You will not delay. Your timing is perfect. And the most mysterious, wonderful thing is that while we wait for You to come to us in new and amazing ways, we can enjoy Your presence right now, for You are always with us, Jesus. Amen.

(Antiphons from Office of Readings, First Sunday of Advent)