Keep your O! O King of all nations.

“O King of all nations and the Deepest Desire of all, you are the precious Corner Stone that alone unites them: Come, Lord, O come to save all mankind whom you fashioned out of clay.” —Magnificat antiphon for December 22

To speak of a king is to also speak about a kingdom. Pope Francis said, “To evangelize is to make the kingdom of God present in our world” (Evangelii Gaudium 176). The Holy Father exhorts us to be people filled with the Holy Spirit, rooted in prayer. People who evangelize without a prayer life are fruitless (Evangelii Gaudium 259). Prayer roots us in the King who is our cornerstone. If we are rooted in the King, nothing can destroy us.

This idea of evangelization, coupled with today’s O Antiphon, recalls the Lord’s Prayer. We ask that God’s will and kingdom be accomplished on earth as in heaven. Let us do God’s will and compassionately serve the poor and all people.

Often, we distract ourselves by filling our deepest longings with pride, distractions, and wants. This O Antiphon calls us to reorient ourselves to adore the child of the poor. We not only need a King of All Nations. We need a King of our hearts. Can this infant child find room in our hearts? Can he become the center, the guiding principle of our lives? Is he the love that motivates our whole enterprise? This child will squeeze his mother’s finger, as infants do. From that same hand, the universe lovingly came into existence. That same hand is steering the stars in their courses. That same hand, knocks at the door of our hearts.

It is not only Israel who longs for their King. This is the longing of all humanity! To pray veni, is to cry out as one human family to the king who governs all nations and hearts. My king is coming toward me. My king is your king. He is coming disguised in poverty, so that no one is out of his reach. What humility! He will be the fulfillment of our deepest desire.

For your meditation this day. From the monks of Saint John’s Abbey: