A call for the Messiah #6 – O King!

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Praised be Jesus Christ! December 22, another Great Advent Antiphon before us to ponder. To begin with, let’s hear it performed by Father Thomas Jarosz.

In today’s antiphon, the Messiah is invoked as King of the nations – this is a reference to the prophecy of Zechariah, who in the fourteenth chapter of his book announces that “the Lord will be king over all the earth.” In the second part of this biblical verse we have the complement: “(…) on that day the Lord will be one, and his name will be only.” It is for us – living in the 21st century, often lost in the multitude of different religions and spirituality – a reminder that there is only one God – the One who created and saved us – and there is no other. It isn’t without matter what god I believe or what god I worship. There is only one real, it is the one about whom today’s antiphon tells us – desired by nations. There is a desire for God in every human being. It is expressed in questions that sooner or later every human being has to ask himself: Why do I exist? What for? What is the purpose of human life? The answers may vary, but we know that the One who has the answers is only one. You exist because a loving God created you. The God who created you out of the dust of the earth. Today’s antiphon tells us about it. Let’s hear the Genesis account of creation: “Then the Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, as a result of which man became a living creature.” Man made of the dust of the earth, and therefore of the elements of the universe, of matter; but to live, God breathed into him the breath of life – there is therefore something more in man than in all other creatures; in the entire Bible, he alone has been blessed with God’s breath of life. When God creates man, he communicates to him the most essential feature of divine life – freedom, the ability to direct oneself, the depth of the human person and spirituality. That’s what God made you. He has not limited himself to matter, lest you treat yourself as things; like the things you use; like the things you let others use. He has also given you the depth of your heart where you can find Him and hear answers to the most important questions of your life. Let us listen to the testimony of Saint Augustine, who, after many years of searching for the meaning of his life, writes: “I loved you late, beauty so long and so new, late love you; in the depths of my soul you were, and I wandered around the world and there I was looking for you, chaotically grasping the beautiful things that you created. You were with me and I was not with you; they imprisoned me away from you, things that would not exist if they were not in you. How great are You, Lord! How worthy to be praised! Man wants to praise You, a particle of what You created. For you have created us to be self-directed and our restless heart until it rests in you. ” So what is the purpose of our life? Union with God, eternal life with Him, limitless happiness, that is salvation. That is why we are calling today for the Messiah, to come and save us, to free us from our sins, from sins that block us from being happy, to fully live, to achieve our goal.

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