O Come Emmanuel!

Today, the last of the "O" antiphons are sung, O come Emmanuel!

Interesting in our novena, every single day we ask the messiah to come. The "O" antiphons are all about desire and longing. And yet, this last O antiphon actually tells us that God is with us, as that is the meaning of Emmanuel!

Revelation reaffirms that God already is here, dwelling with us. Rev. 21:3 says I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, God's dwelling is with the human race. God will dwell with them and they will be God's people and God will always be with them as their God.

Maybe our cry should be, help us open heart and recognize that God is already within!

It is often our way, to ask for that which we already have, to seek elsewhere when it is here, to think we still need when we only need awaken and open our eyes.

So much of our Christmas in the United States revolves around gift giving. Not that that is bad. It just sets us in the mind that we need more, that we should be getting.

In the monastery, the focus is turned. Christmas is all about receiving, and the focus is on realizing the gift of grace, of peace, of God already within.

Let us come before the Infant Jesus this year and pray, not that he comes, but that we open and realize what we already have!