Today, we arrive at our final O Antiphon, the most well-known of all of them: O Emmanuel. We pray:

“O Emmanuel, our King and our Lawgiver, the Expectation of all nations, and the Savior of all: Come, Lord, O come to save us, our Lord and our God.” —Magnificat antiphon for December 23

No matter what I do to prepare or no matter how much I try to just be still, I am never ready for Christmas. I am caught off guard, not ready for the Almighty One to find me.

Regardless of my disposition, I am wanted by this Child. He wants me to find him in the now. He wants me to adore him in the memories we create in our busy kitchen, the conversations at table, or the sharing of love at the Christmas Tree.

On his return from Nicaea, Pope Leo XIV commented that he can be best understood through the writings of a humble monk by the name of Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection and his work The Practice of the Presence of God. Out of sheer curiosity, I looked up Brother Lawrence and found something beautiful that struck me. He said,

If you can’t find God peeling potatoes at your kitchen sink, you can’t expect to find God on the other side of the world in a monastery.

What a humbling reminder that God is here, in the beautiful chaos of family gatherings and in the ordinariness of each day.

Another way to consider this loving presence is found in a poem I read last year. It is entitled O Emmanuel by Malcolm Guitek:

O come, O come, and be our God-with-us
O long-sought With-ness for a world without,
O secret seed, O hidden spring of light.
Come to us Wisdom, come unspoken Name
Come Root, and Key, and King, and holy Flame,
O quickened little wick so tightly curled,
Be folded with us into time and place,
Unfold for us the mystery of grace
And make a womb of all this wounded world.
O heart of heaven beating in the earth,
O tiny hope within our hopelessness
Come to be born, to bear us to our birth,
To touch a dying world with new-made hands
And make these rags of time our swaddling bands.

The word With-ness was striking for me. It is not a common dictionary word. It is an idea that focuses on presence, connection, being alongside someone. We beg God to be with us in a compassionate loving way. It is a word where we beg God to share in our experience, be our support, be our intimacy. It is a way of unpacking the word Emmanuel.

Yet, Emmanuel brings with it the surprise of God. The Almighty One comes as a baby. If we are too busy, we will miss his arrival for it is found in the hidden recesses of the heart.

Don’t look for God the next time you go to Church or the next big thing in life. God, our Emmanuel, is here now. Pause, remember, and adore Him.

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

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