O sacred Lord of ancient Israel, who showed yourself to Moses in the burning bush, who gave him the holy law on the Sinai mountain: come, stretch out your mighty hand to set us free.
In today’s antiphon, we are reminded that Jesus is more than just a prophet, moral teacher, or liberator. He is God. He is the Second Person of the Holy Trinity and has existed for all eternity. In the fullness of time, he took on a human nature and became man. Jesus.
In the familiar story of Moses and the burning bush, Moses asks the Lord to reveal his name so he can tell the people the God of their fathers has sent him on this mission. God gives him a mysterious name - I Am Who I Am. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says, “This divine name is mysterious just as God is mystery. It is at once a name revealed and something like the refusal of a name, and hence it better expresses God as what he is—infinitely above everything that we can understand or say: he is the ‘hidden God,’ his name is ineffable, and he is the God who makes himself close to men” (CCC 206).
While God remains a mystery (try explaining the Trinity sometime), in the Incarnation he has chosen to remain less hidden. He has chosen to make himself even closer… by becoming one of us.
Today’s Messianic title, Adonai, or Lord, is the name of God used frequently throughout the Old Testament. Because of the holiness of the personal name of God, no Jewish person would speak or write the name. Instead, when written, the Tetragrammaton - YHWH - was used; when spoken, “Adonai” or another name would be substituted. If only we had this same reverence for the name of God, which is so often used flippantly or in vain.
The reminder of today’s O Antiphon is the humbling mystery that God loves you so much that he became man to free you. Humanity got ourselves into this mess, but he comes into it to free us. The same God that appeared to Moses in the burning bush, the same God that revealed this mysterious name, the same God who manifested his glory on Mount Sinai … was born in a stable, was named Jesus by his adopted father Joseph, and died on Mount Calvary. For you.
Lord, help me to never take your love for granted. May I fall on my face in humble awe that the God who created me loved me so much to die for me. May I reverence your all-powerful, holy name. Help me to contemplate your nearness this Christmas… that the awesome, omnipotent, mighty Lord became a baby so that he could draw close to me.
“At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:10-11)
Oh, this is just lovely! How wonderful!