O Antiphons: Dec 23 Sat
O EMMANUEL (God-with-us), our Ruler and Lawgiver, the expected of the nations and the Redeemer of all, come now to deliver us, O our Lord and our master.
At the dawn of creation, when he created man, God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. God looked on man with such love that he adopted him as his son, filling him with grace.
But man sinned. He rebelled against God, against his Father. Then that divine work was shattered; and that unity of grace, soul and body, was broken up. Yet God showed that he was not satisfied with re-establishing what sin had undone. He went much further, giving our human nature a dignity it had never had before: And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
During Christmas the Church invites us to contemplate the mystery of the Incarnation: God-made-man. By taking on human flesh, God shows us how valuable our body is in his eyes, so that we may keep it free from sin.
Christ is the image of the invisible God; looking at him, we become souls of prayer, contemplatives.
“If we want to love Jesus, we have to spend time with him. We don't have two hearts: one for God, and one for the things of this earth. You should spend time with him daily, putting your heart into everything, with the ardor of people in love. God has captured our heart, our whole life. One day, by his infinite goodness, we felt the dart of love that conquered us forever. And we must see to it that this love endures, and becomes more intense and refined every day."
We are sorry for not having kept close enough to Jesus; and for not having made good use of all the riches he has brought us. Therefore, now that Christmas is at hand, let us try to be prayerful souls who seek to live in God's company, since God chose to live among us. That is the very meaning of Emmanuel: "God with us".
This Christmas we resolve to get to know Jesus, to listen to him and talk to him constantly, trustingly, lovingly, tenderly, as did our Lady and St Joseph.
And if you ever find that you don't know what to say, turn to Mary, our Lady, our wonderful Mother, and say: “Teach me to talk and to know your Son."
“Joseph, my Father and Lord, so humble and pure, worthy to carry in your arms, to care for and embrace the Baby Jesus, teach us how to approach our God, how to be humble and pure, worthy to become other christs. And how to live and teach –as Christ did– the ways of God, both hidden and bright, telling all men and women that in their everyday lives here on earth they can attain a wonderful holiness, an extraordinary fruitfulness."
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