It is amazing. No matter what you do to prepare for Christmas, the coming of Christ seems to surprise me each year.

These past days, we have searched for and dug into the Old Testament’s titles of God. We groan from the depths of our hearts, asking God to come to us now.

Throughout this season, we have waited for Christ to come in history, mystery, and majesty.

Jesus comes to us in our chronological history … through a Virgin.

Jesus comes to us in mystery … the life of the Church, sacraments, Eucharist.

Jesus comes to us in majesty … we await his final coming in glory.

These are three vignettes of the same coming. This mystery of coming is what we celebrate at the Eucharist.

The O Antiphons contain a code. If we take the first letter of each title of God, we find ERO CRAS. After all our pleas for God to come, God responds. God says, “Tomorrow I will come!”

Hearing ERO CRAS in our hearts, let the words of the Opening Prayer of Christmas Eve Morning Mass be our meditation today:

Come quickly, we pray, Lord Jesus, and do not delay, that those who trust in your compassion may find solace and relief in your coming …