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O Emmanuel
O Emmanuel, our King and Giver of Law:
come to save us, Lord our God!
There is no greater phrase than God is with us! In a world that increasingly seems dominated by disconnections rather than connections, with broken relationships, violence, war, anger, and worse, to me there is no greater comfort than the fact that in all this God is with us. It is Saint Paul who so eloquently reminds us that if God is for us, who can be against us. And there is nothing more that I believe I need than the constant reassurance that God is with me.
I am helped by knowing that in my life there is God with me. Saint John Baptist de la Salle, founder of the De La Salle Christian Brothers wanted to remind those who are poor and seemingly without anything that even in their poverty and suffering they were always in the holy presence of God. And what better reminder in a cold December that we always have access to the warm love of God.
As we are now on the doorstep of the great celebration of the Incarnation, Christmas, whether these are happy days or sad days, times of celebration or of mourning, times of abundance or times of scarcity there is one thing that is always in great “supply”: God Himself, O Emmanuel, the Christ-Child who comes into our world to continue His saving work.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has a list of all the O Antiphons.
Check out these additional resources for Advent.
