O KING OF THE GENTILES and
their desired One, Cornerstone that makes both one:
Come, and deliver us whom you formed out of the dust of the earth.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
Some translations render this opening line as “King of
Nations.” While we could spend a lot of
time on this differentiation, the spirit in the Antiphons is the same. There is an understanding that the several
titles for the Messiah that the Antiphons employ up to this point have tended
to hold their significance for the Hebrews alone. “King of Nations” (plural) or “King of the
Gentiles” affirms the proclamation that the good news is for all people.
The prophets foretold such: For a child has been born for
us, a son given us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named
Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. This is an oft-quoted word from Isaiah 9:6.
He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many
peoples; they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into
pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall
they learn war anymore. This foretelling
is also from Isaiah. It is Chapter 2,
verse 4. Among the plenteous others is
Isaiah 64:8: But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou
our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.
The Antiphons individually and collectively are a rich
source of worship material and grounds for seasonal reflection. It has meant a great deal to me to plumb
their depths even a little bit in this season.
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