Third Saturday of Advent

Gospel: Lk 1:39-45

Tonight, at Vespers the Church will proclaim the fifth of seven O Antiphons sung before the Magnificat. One of these beautiful antiphons is sung each evening between Dec. 17 and 23.  This night we will sing “O Dawn of the East….” or in a more modern translation, “O Dayspring from on high...,”. How appropriate on the day our Gospel is that of the Visitation; Mary, going to visit her far senior cousin, Elizabeth. Both women carrying babes who will bring a New Day to our world. John preparing those who follow him for the Light that is to come; Jesus being the Light that will dispel the darkness for all generations to come – generations “who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death”.

Two holy and wise women bringing the promise of Light (Elizabeth) and the Light (Mary) to a world so in need of the Light. It seems our world sits in a heavy darkness. A darkness for which Call to Action advocates for our Church to help dispel.  There is the darkness of capital punishment. The darkness of wars in Ukraine and Russia, Israel and Gaza, civil wars in Sudan and other countries - wars resulting in deaths, starvation, permanent bodily injuries and trauma beyond description that will affect not only the immediate survivors but those of up to eight generations. And then there is the darkness in our own country: one of polarization and the flooding of misinformation. These name but a few of the darknesses in which we live.  How badly we need the Light! And Advent always reminds us that we have that Light in the coming of Jesus.

Come O Dawn, Come.

Barbara Hansen, OP is a member of the Dominican Sisters of Grand Rapids, Michigan.