It’s frequently said that you should immerse yourself in Scripture because you just never know what verse or part of a verse will have a whole new meaning for you that day. The same largely goes for the many liturgical acts of the Church, which is one reason I so highly recommend people pray the Liturgy of the Hours. While praying Morning Prayer this morning I was struck by the canticle antiphon: “I shall wait for my Lord and Savior and point him out when he is near, alleluia.”
If you look closely you’ll notice it is really a two-part statement: “I shall wait for my Lord and Savior” and “and point him out when he is near“. Maybe it’s just me, but doesn’t that first part seem to be what we very often leave ourselves doing while ignoring the second? “Yes, I shall wait for You – veni, veni Emmanuel!” we say. But how often do we say “look, you can find the Lord for He has come and shall come again!” That prayer is really a demand on us: it is not enough merely to wait watchfully for the Lord – we must make His presence and His coming known. As “faith without works is dead” so watching without evangelizing is empty.
