Photo by Tarsem Saini
Drop down dew from above, you heavens, and let the clouds rain down the Just One; let the earth be opened and bring forth a Savior. (Isaiah 45:8)
Entrance Antiphon for the 4th Sunday of Advent
It has been raining quite a bit here in East Tennessee this past week. Perhaps God is trying to remind us that even while the rush of the secular celebration of Christmas continues, we are called as Christians to wait in stillness for the coming of the Lord. Just as the people of Israel waited expectantly for the birth of Jesus, we await his birth within our hearts.
The new version of the Second Eucharistic Prayer begins,
“You are indeed Holy, O Lord, the fount of all holiness. Make holy, therefore, these gifts, we pray, by sending down your Spirit upon them like the dewfall, so that they may become for us the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
During the liturgy we don’t just pray for the Holy Spirit to descend upon the bread and wine placed upon the altar, but also that He will fall upon each of us, allowing our hearts to be watered with His grace. We pray that Christ the savior will be welcomed, unworthy as we are, to enter under our roof and find a home with us.
I’m praying for more rain this weekend.
