Wednesday, December 17th

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
O come, Desire of nations bind
all peoples in one heart and mind.
From dust thou brought us forth to life;
deliver us from earthly strife.
                       (verse 7)

     These are tender days. Tender days when we think about our country’s unrest. Families grieving for sons who have died. Police officers “on guard” and wary of what might happen next. Marching in the streets from coast to coast to coast. In countries around the world there are families grieving their sons and daughters who have died. Bullets and bombs, landmines and IED’s made by human hands to maim and kill.  From Missouri to Syria, from NYC to Gaza, from Islamabad, Pakistan to Newtown, Connecticut …we are killing one another more efficiently than ever before in human history. And still we are weeping.
                                         O come, Desire of nations bind
                                            all peoples in one heart and mind.
     In the summer of 2007 I was privileged to go on a pilgrimage to Israel. I’ve described the trip as being 18 clergy and 3 adults. We spent a week in northern Israel and a week in Jerusalem. Of all the memorable sights (wading in the Sea of Galilee and floating in the Dead Sea; kneeling in churches all around the country; seeing the Palestinian Wall), it is what I saw in the courtyard of the Basilica of the Annunciation that holds my heart.
       We were told that the Catholic Church of Nazareth was in great disrepair and in 1969 the Pope called on the world to save her. Every country that gave money was also asked to contribute a mosaic of their vision of the Mother Mary.
     I would go back today just to walk around that courtyard again. All around the courtyard are mosaics of Mary ~ you can see Kenya's mosaic next to Poland's, you can see Argentina's next to Ireland's. We could all learn something from what this artwork is trying to teach. Yes, our lenses are different. Yes, our skin-color, hair-color and eye-color are different…but one great truth is that we are children of God. Each country. Each son. Each daughter.
     O Come, O Come Emmanuel ~ you who created and are creating still, bind us, we pray. Heal us, we pray. Save us, we pray.

                            Breath Prayer:   “learning again”     “from Nazareth”

Prayer:
O Come, O Come to your daughters and sons, we pray. Teach us to study war no more. Teach us to see one another through your lens of compassion and love. Teach us to remember that we are bound together nation-by-nation, daughter-by-daughter and son-by-son. Amen.