Key of David Theme: Jesus is the Key of David I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David; he shall open, and no one shall shut; he shall shut, and no one shall open.   Read the rest: Isaiah 22:22 The Key of David symbolized the power of the king. In this part of Isaiah, it is specific to the prime minister of the kingdom and talks about this prime minister having the ability to speak and act on behalf of the king. (As a side note, this ties in directly with Jesus’ words to Saint Peter in the New Testament.) But Jesus is more than the prime minister who holds the k ..read more

Flower of Jesse Theme:Jesus is the Flower of Jesse A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,     and a branch shall grow out of his roots. 2 The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,     the spirit of wisdom and understanding,     the spirit of counsel and might,     the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. 3 His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.     Read the rest: Isaiah 11:1-3  Isaiah’s prophecies about the Messiah-to-come are beautiful. We r ..read more

Ancient Book Theme: Jesus is Wisdom In the assembly of the Most High she opens her mouth,     and in the presence of his hosts she tells of her glory… She reaches mightily from one end of the earth to the other, and she orders all things well. Read the rest: Sirach 24:2, Wisdom 8:1 Tonight is the night we begin the O Antiphons. Most of us know them through the Christmas hymn “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” Each night focuses on a part of the Old Testament descriptions of the Messiah, and these chants were used very early on in the Church, and were in common use by th ..read more

River and John the Baptist’s Shell Theme:John the Baptist The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2 As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, “See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,     who will prepare your way; 3 the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:     ‘Prepare the way of the Lord,     make his paths straight,’” 4 John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And people from the whole Jud ..read more

Mary’s Heart, Pierced by a Sword Theme: Mary 26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And now, you will conceive in your ..read more

Carpenter’s Square Theme: Joseph 18 Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. 20 But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the ..read more

The Temple Theme:Solomon 5 At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask what I should give you.” 6 And Solomon said, “You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant my father David, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you; and you have kept for him this great and steadfast love, and have given him a son to sit on his throne today. 7 And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David, although I am only a littl ..read more

Slingshot Theme:David 32 David said to Saul, “Let no one’s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” 33 Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are just a boy, and he has been a warrior from his youth.” 34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father; and whenever a lion or a bear came, and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I went after it and struck it down, rescuing the lamb from its mouth; and if it turned against me, I would catch it by ..read more

Oil Lamp Theme:Samuel 1Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread. 2 At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his room; 3 the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. 4 Then the Lord called, “Samuel! Samuel!”[a] and he said, “Here I am!” 5 and ran to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down. 6 The Lo ..read more

Shepherd’s Crook Theme:Jesse 16 The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” 2 Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me.” And the Lordsaid, “Take a heifer with you, and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ 3 Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me the one whom ..read more