Maranatha!
Come, Lord Jesus, come!

Our loving mother the Church uses this holy season to teach us through hymns and canticles, voice and ritual…. For Christ, who came once in the flesh, is prepared to come again. When we remove all obstacles to his presence he will come, at any hour and moment, to dwell spiritually in our hearts, bringing with him the riches of his grace.

St. Charles Borromeo

Icon of Christ and the Holy Angels
by Cathedral iconographer Joan Brand-Landkamer.

This icon of the young Christ, surrounded by angels, suggests the second coming of Christ as St. Cyril of Jerusalem describes it: the Lord in glory, “escorted by an army of angels.”

Meditation

We do not preach only one coming of Christ, but a second as well, much more glorious than the first. The first coming was marked by patience; the second will bring the crown of a divine kingdom. At the first coming he was wrapped in swaddling clothes in a manger. At his second coming he will be clothed in light as in a garment. In the first coming he endured the cross, despising its shame; in the second coming he will be in glory, escorted by an army of angels. We look then beyond the first coming and await the second. At his first coming we said: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. At the second we shall say it again; we shall go out with the angels to meet the Lord and cry out in adoration: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

St. Cyril of Jerusalem

Prayer

Let us pray that we make take Christ’s coming seriously.

All-powerful God,
increase our strength of will for doing good
that Christ may find an eager welcome at his coming
and call us to his side in the kingdom of heaven,
where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
 

Icon of the Baptism of the Lord
by Cathedral iconographer Joan Brand-Landkamer.

Meditation
 

John appears as the boundary between the two testaments, the old and the new.  He represents times past and is the herald of the new era to come.  When John was preaching the Lord’s coming he was asked:  Who are you?  And he replied:  I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness.  The voice is John, but the Lord in the beginning was the Word.  John was a voice that lasted only for a time; Christ, the Word in the beginning, is eternal.

                                                St. Augustine

Prayer

God of power and mercy,

open our hearts in welcome.

Remove the things that hinder us from receiving Christ with joy,

so that we may share his wisdom

and become one with him

when he comes in glory,

for he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.

Icon of the Mother and Child
by Cathedral iconographer Joan Brand-Landkamer.

Meditation

We wait, we wait….

Destiny waits in the hand of God, shaping the still unshapen.

Destiny waits in the hand of God, not in the hands of statesmen.

Come, happy December, who shall observe you, who shall preserve you?

Shall the Son of Man be born again in the litter of scorn?

For us, the poor, there is no action,

But only to wait and to witness.

                                                T. S. Eliot, Murder in the Cathedral

Prayer
 

You heavens, open from above, that clouds may rain the Just One.

Icon of the Annunciation
by Cathedral iconographer Joan Brand-Landkamer.

You have heard, O Virgin, that you will conceive and bear a son; you have heard that it will not be by man but by the Holy Spirit. The angel awaits an answer, it is time for him to return to God who sent him. We too are waiting, O Lady, for your word of compassion. Answer quickly, O Virgin. Reply in haste to the angel, or rather through the angel to the Lord. Answer with a word, receive the Word of God. Speak your own word, conceive the divine Word. Breathe a passing word, embrace the eternal Word. Why do you delay, why are you afraid? Believe, give praise, and receive. Let humility be bold, let modesty be confident. Arise, hasten, open. Arise in faith, hasten in devotion, open in praise and thanksgiving. And Mary said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word.

St. Bernard of Clairvaux

Prayer

Father,
all-powerful God,
your eternal Word took flesh on our earth
when the Virgin Mary placed her life
at the service of your plan.
Lift our minds in watchful hope
to hear the voice which announces his glory
and open our minds to receive the Spirit
who prepares us for his coming.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.