O King whom all the peoples desire, you are the cornerstone which makes all one. O come and save mankind whom you made from clay.
When I was a boy in the 1960's I'd venture there wasn't a Catholic church anywhere that didn't have a statue of the Crowned Christ Child under the title Infant of Prague. This bare-footed Holy Infant is smartly dressed, and how delightful is this, he smiles while blessing our world.
But there's a flip side because a grown-up king can strike terror in his enemies. Indeed, at Christmas I imagine the dark spirits have a collective anxiety attack and with good reason, as in Saint Mark's Gospel, wherever Jesus goes, the first thing he does is to dismiss and release bad spirits. Those who live in Christ's Kingdom - under his rule - live inwardly free lives!
Good kings protect their people. Don't we need to be protected from all that wants us off our feet. The antiphon asks Jesus the King to save us who are made of clay. A Jewish religion teacher told me that the name Adam translates mud-man. This means we're break-able. We have lots of ways to say it, don't we?
- I'm at my wits end.
- I can't take another day of this.
- I'm at the end of my rope.
- I'm ready to go over the edge.
- I'm at the breaking point.
- I'm losing my mind.
- I'm gonna have a nervous breakdown.
We might all feel this O Antiphon very deeply and personally. Ask King-Jesus to strike terror in the demons who want you on the ropes or worse still, down for the count.
