The final verse of O Come, O Come, Emmanuel finishes our
series of meditations.
O come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of humankind;
O bid our sad divisions cease,
And be for us our King of Peace.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to you
O [Israel]
This verse was on my mind last
night during Vespers, particularly when we prayed the last petition for the
evening: Conqueror of the barriers of
hatred and discord, reunite at the banquet of eternal life all who have died as
victims of war. ---and I added, and
terrorism.
The petition shed light on
something I had not considered: at the end of time, ALL who have died will be
reunited at the banquet table. Enemy combatants will one day reach out hands to
one another; there will be unity at last.
Consider that, if you will: we,
too, will be united with those we may have seen as enemies on this side of the
grave. We will be united with those we disagree with, with those we have found
it difficult to like, with those we may have hurt as well as those who may have
hurt us. Somehow, the Prince of Peace
will dissolve those barriers. The petition calls him ”Conqueror of the barriers
of hatred and discord.”
Perhaps we may need him to send
that powerful grace to us here and now, for we cannot wait until the time we
may pass over from death to eternal life.
Are there divisions in your
life? Discord? Contentiousness? Emnity? Bitterness over what has happened in
the past? Aversions to some? Ask him to send the grace to dissolve these
barriers for us, even if it may take a lifetime for the process to be
completed. Try this exercise: focus your attention on one single person; pray
for that person; picture the Prince of Peace dissolving what has been broken
and uniting heart to heart in a sublime moment of healing.
Remember this: Emmanuel shall
come to you, bringing all the things you have prayed for as we have made our
way through this wonderful hymn.
Blessed Advent to you.
The next Reflection will be on Sunday, December 13.
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