Good Morning Friends & Digital Neighbors! Hello Refugees & Phamily! Happy Thursday Dawn Patrol, Early Birds, Supporters, Members and Visitors to Rubin Report, Phetasy & Padre's. I know, I left out those UK Chaps and Ladies at Triggernometry, but they are on the Far Side Train Monday through Friday.
Emmanuel - God with us. The name Jesus never gets called because Christians claim that is what and who He is. Obviously not everyone is a subscriber to the God-Man, I get it. Jesus or no Jesus, I hope you acknowledge some sort of Higher Power - higher something in your life.
I can't imagine any human people going through life without a higher purpose. NOT - I think there are far too many people going through life with nothing greater than personal preference, the emotions of the moment, and the imposition of will on whatever is in your path. Maybe it can make greyscale souls content, but the vibrancy of life will be missed and I doubt it will ever be known. Even as I type this, I realize I could among the self-deceived and delusional, but I think the rest of my life and conversations bespeak some sort of rationality and reason. (I know limited and certainly questionable if you spend enough time with me.) 🤪 Again this is not stealth proselytizing, everyone has their own path provided by their own navigation system and the questions they are willing to wrestle.
God with us. GOD - a lot of weight in those three letters for a Being that may not exist. I of course do believe, but I know many more who don't, or if they do believe, it, He, Them, doesn't really matter. Again no judgment, but there is puzzled disappointment if you believe in something that doesn't really matter, shrug I guess I'd be asking why bother? 60% to 70% of Catholics don't when it comes to worship which should be natural response when one gets the message. God doesn't need worship, His children do.
Almost Merry Christmas! Here is some final history on the O Antiphons. Thanks for indulging this more devotional side of my life in preparation for Christmas. Whatever the next 72 hours hold for you, I hope there is some brush with joy, some small taste of peace, the presence of a few vibrant souls that accept you as you are, warts and all.
What are the O Antiphons?
Antiphon - a short passage, usually from the Bible, recited or sung as a preface or response before and/or after certain parts of a liturgical service, usually a Psalm.
The “O Antiphons” are traditionally read or chanted during the evening daily prayers (Vespers) on the final 7 nights of Advent leading up to Christmas Eve (December 17th - 23rd). They often precede the “Magnificat”, known as the Song of Mary. Each of the 7 Antiphons is based on a name or attribute of Christ found in the writings of the prophet Isaiah. The well known Advent carol, “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” was based on the O Antiphons with each verse corresponding to one of the antiphons.
Various current and former members of our fellowship have written a reflective devotional for each one of these antiphons. We then recorded these meditations along with the corresponding antiphon. That is followed by the appropriate verse of “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” and the “Magnificat” or Song of Mary (Luke 1:46-55).
We hope that you will take a few minutes each day on the week leading up to Christmas to listen, pray, and meditate on the real meaning of the season; God’s salvation to us through Jesus Christ!
*THE O ANTIPHONS
December 17th - O Sapientia (O WISDOM)
December 18th - O Adonai (O ADONAI)
December 19th - O Radix Jesse (O ROOT OF JESSE)
December 20th - O Clavis David (O KEY OF DAVID)
December 21st - O Oriens (O MORNING STAR)
December 22nd - O Rex Gentium (O KING OF NATIONS)
December 23rd - O Emmanuel (O EMMANUEL)
The beginning letters of the titles of the “O Antiphons” when taken backward form the acrostic, ERO CRAS which translated from Latin means “Tomorrow, I will come.” This reflects the theme of Advent. *
Clever little Monks. 😉 Happy Thursday Dear Friends!
Today marks the three hundred and thirtieth birthday of the Frenchman François-Marie Arouet, better known by his nom de plume, Voltaire (1694-1778).
Born into a bourgeois family during the reign of Louis XIV, the “Sun King” (r. 1643-1715), Voltaire suffered tragedy at a young age when his mother died. Never close with his father or brother, Voltaire exhibited a rebellious attitude toward authority from his youth. His brilliant mind was fostered in the care of the Society of Jesus, who introduced him to the joys of literature and theater. Despite his later criticisms against the Church, Voltaire, throughout his life, fondly recalled his dedicated Jesuit teachers.
Although he spent time as a civil servant in the French embassy to the Hague, Voltaire’s main love was writing—an endeavor where he excelled in various genres, including poetry, which led to his appointment as the royal court poet for King Louis XV. Widely recognized as one of the greatest French writers, and even hyperbolically referred to by ...
Padre - Tom Miller invites you to a Coffee Talk, Speakeasies, Schmoozes, Tea Times, Afterhours and other gatherings.
https://teams.live.com/meet/93792382189049?p=DiBHsYfuECPgDrG7vO
2026 Coffee Talk with the ADD Irregulars
Thursday, January 1, 2026
6:00 AM - 8:00 AM (CST)
Occurs every day starting 1/1 until 12/31/2027
Coffee Talk - Daily beginning at 6:00 AM Central Time Zone - USA
White Pilled Wednesday - A break from the heaviness of news and current events to focus upon things more personal & positive for the first hour of Coffee Talk.
Afternoon Chats - Most Tuesday, Friday & Sundays 2:00 PM Central
Other chats as posted in the community.
The Beautiful
Said the Disciple to the Lover, “Sir, before I left the world I heard certain men who were held in high esteem and thought to know the will of the Beloved say that those who loved the Beautiful did not love the Beloved but loved idols, yet in the Garden of the Beloved we are ever striving to create beauty for the pleasure of the Beloved. Were they then speaking the truth?”
The Lover answered, “Those who said this had never glimpsed the form of the Beloved nor ever truly sought Him, for all beauty is but the reflection of the beauty of the Beloved, although seen very dimly as in a dark and faulty mirror, even as all goodness is a dim reflection of the goodness of the Beloved. So it is that those who love beauty and goodness recognize dimly in them the form of the Beloved and though often in ignorance those who are seeking the Beautiful and the Good are seeking after the Beloved.”
The Comforting of the Disciple
Now the Beloved often came into the Garden both because of the great joy He had in the Garden and because of the great love He bore the Lover and the Disciple. Often He talked with the Lover, but the Disciple because he was not yet perfected in Love could neither hear nor see the Beloved, though he often felt a strange joy, he did not know why. Therefore he was sorrowful, for it seemed to him that on account of his sins he would never find the Beloved. So weeping he came to the Lover and said, “Sir, I know that I am a very sinful man and I much fear that though I search all my life yet on account of my sins I shall never find the Beloved.”
In reply the Lover smiled gently and said, “My son, when you first came into the Garden do you remember what sort of day it was?”
“Yes,” said the Disciple, “I remember it. It was dark and gloomy as if no sunlight ever entered the Garden.”
“When you began to strip off your rich robes,” the Lover asked, “what happened to the day?”
“It seemed,” said the Disciple, “as if the sun had suddenly broken through the clouds and the whole Garden shone with glorious and celestial light: such light as shines daily in the Garden.”
The Lover replied, “Know that the Beloved Himself is the light of the Garden, so that when you began searching for the Beloved even then you found Him, for how can any know the desire to search for the Beloved if He had not already without his knowing revealed Himself to him.”
So the Disciple was greatly comforted by knowing that although he could not see or hear Him he had already found the Beloved, and he labored the more joyously to do the service of the Beloved.
