O Emmanuel

King and Giver of the Law, the One for whom all nations long, our Savior and our Redeemer: O Come! Come to free us, come to save us, for you alone are Lord and God.
 
The season of waiting is coming to an end. Emmanuel, you are with us now, almost! We look forward to the thrilling moment when we sing “Silent Night, Holy Night” and then wish Merry Christmas to all our loved ones.

Could you approach us any nearer than you did when you became the Son of Mary, when you adopted our ordinary little ways? Are you he who is still to come but never arrives in such a way as to fulfill our expectations? What do we expect…? What are we longing for in a world without piety where history is a long tale of misery with nothing to teach us? A world that justifies all manner of evil and insanity?

The American philosopher William James wrote: “All natural goods perish; riches have wings; fame is a breath, youth, health and pleasure vanish. Can things whose end is always dust and disappointment be the real goods that our souls require? Then there is the scepter of universal death, the all-encompassing blackness.”

These are sobering and chilling words, and yet the truth is that death is inevitable for us and therefore the central question of our existence.

Considering such harsh realities of our existence, where can we find hope, and meaning? If all our dreams eventually turn to dust, where can we find life? These sorts of questions prepare our heart for you, Emmanuel, “Hope and Light of the Nations.”

You were one of us, a people broken in heart and in desperate need of healing. You have quietly taken your place in our ranks and marched along with us. You chose the lowly for your apostles, one was a crook, and the rest ran away. We are all second-class creatures, mostly foolish, often wicked, sometimes dumb, hard to teach, and resentful of correction and change.

O Emmanuel, God-with-us, without you our life is only a procession to the grave where we are destined to rot. Weep with us, Emmanuel, that we heal from our grief. Travel with us so that our road will have a happy ending where all things shall be well.