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O Antiphons: O Lord

        We are in a series of articles meditating on our Lord’s coming by using the lovely Advent tradition of calling upon the Lord Jesus Christ with one of his messianic titles. This week we call upon him as “O Lord” (Adoni), also translated, “O Leader.” This “O Antiphon” (as they are called) is rendered in today’s English as:

               O Sacred Lord of ancient Israel, who showed yourself to Moses in the burning bush,
               who gave him the Holy Law on Sinai mountain:
               come, stretch out your mighty hand to set us free.

         The lectionary for Mass modifies it to read: “O Leader of the House of Israel, giver of the Law to Moses on Sinai: come to rescue us with your mighty power!”

         As we mentioned last week, each of these antiphons (verses) relate to a prophecy from the prophet Isaiah. Second only to the book of Psalms, Isaiah has had more influence on both Jewish and Christian belief and practice than any other book of Scripture; and, again second only to the Psalms, is the most quoted Old Testament book in the New Testament. His prophetic words are fundamental to an understanding of the Gospel such that St. Jerome (c. 340-420) said that Isaiah “should be called an evangelist rather than a prophet, because he describes all the mysteries of Christ and the church so clearly that one would think he is composing a history of what has already happened rather than prophesying what is to come.”

         The latter chapters of Isaiah (56-66) refer to Moses in speaking of both retribution as well as a future restoration. In other words, there will be a sifting: the faithful to the Lord will experience salvation, the new Jerusalem, new heavens, new earth; but the rest who have rejected God will experience judgment. Chapter 63 prefigures Christ’s work of redemption, defeat of the devil, and salvation and mercy, and in this context in which the prophet speaks of Moses.

         Moses was the Lord’s servant from “the days of old,” “who brought up out of the sea [the Red Sea, during the Exodus] the shepherds of his flock” and “put in the midst of them his holy spirit, who caused his glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses, who divided the waters before them [Moses stretched out his hand and the Lord divided the waters to the left and right, Ex 14:21, cf. 14:26-27, 15:6, 12, 16; so the antiphon pleads, “come, stretch out your mighty hand” again] to make for himself an everlasting name [Ex 15:3, 11; a hint of God revealing his holy Name at the burning bush, Ex 3:14], who led them through the depths [Ex 14:22, 29]” (Is 63:11-13).

         The Moses of old thus prefigures the Messiah to come, as Moses himself had prophesied (Deut 18:15). Isaiah expresses it as a longing for salvation: “O that you would tear the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence [as at Mt. Sinai (Ex 19:18) when the Lord came down (Ex 19:20) and the Law was given (Ex 20)] – as when fire kindles brushwood [the burning bush, Ex 3:2; or “you send forth your fury, it consumes them like stubble,” Ex 15:7] ... you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence” (Is 64:1-3).

         Isaiah also says (33:22), “the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our ruler, the Lord is our king; he will save us,” as the antiphon pleads. The antiphon used at Mass (“O Leader of the House of Israel”) refers to this verse as well as pointing to the prophecy of Micah that from Bethlehem “shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel” (5:2).

         Like Isaiah, we want to ask again this coming Advent for God to stretch out his majestic arm, work new wonders, put his Holy Spirit in our midst, and come to save us.

         O sacred Lord of ancient Israel, Christ Jesus: come to us! 

Dibby Green
Originally published in the print edition of the Mojave Desert News  dated November 12, 2020, modified.
Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church is located in California City, CA. Visit our website at ollcalcity.org.  

References:
John Bersma, Brant Pitre, A Catholic Introduction to the Bible, The Old Testament (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2018), p. 721-723.