O Emmanuel, king and lawgiver, desire of the nations,
Savior of all people:
Come and set us free, Lord our God.
Emmanuel is God with us, in all that we go through, in our joys and sorrows.
As monks, it is our duty and privilege to become attuned to the Lord's continual advent. For if it is true, as we believe, that one day the Lord will return once and for all to gather us all together and bring us home to the Father in the end time, we also know that his coming toward us is a relentless, already-happening reality. And we are meant to be experts-- experts at waiting, attentiveness; experts at emptiness, the emptiness that is constantly clearing a space for him. In Christ Jesus, our Emmanuel, God has made a giant leap towards us. Jesus our Lord is always drawing near. And attentiveness to his presence is the secret we were made for.
At the end of Vespers, we go to the manger scene prepared by Brother Jude, and Father Abbot blesses our creche.
Photograph by Brother Brian.
