Thoughts on Emmanuel

 

December 23: “O Emmanuel” Emmanuel is perhaps the most familiar name we give to God during Advent. It means “God with us.” For a people who longed for the Messiah through the centuries, Emmanuel named the fulfillment of all their dreams. We believe that God is with us today and every day. Take time today to think about your deepest desire for this Christmas season. How is God’s presence part of the fulfillment of that desire?   Today’s Gospel tells of the birth of John the Baptist. Because Francis often characterized himself as the herald of the Great King, it’s not surprising that his biographers would see in his mother’s desire to name him Giovanni (John) a sign of his identification from birth with the forerunner of the Messiah.   Francis, the servant and friend of the Most High, to whom divine providence gave this name so that by means of this singular and unusual name the knowledge of his ministry might become known to the whole world, was called John by his mother, when, being born again of water and the Holy Spirit, he was made a child of grace from a child of wrath…. For while her neighbors were wondering at the nobility of soul and the modesty of Francis, she would say, as though prompted by divine guidance: “What do you think this my son will turn out to be? Know that he will be a son of God by the grace of his merits.”   This indeed was the opinion of not a few whom the youthful Francis pleased by reason of his good inclinations…. He considered the feast of John the Baptist to be more illustrious than the feasts of all the other saints, for the dignity of his name left a mark of mystic virtue upon him.

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins. —Luke 1:76–79

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