This is a meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Kintore College on December 23, 2020. He was connected on Zoom to the families of the residents.

Today, as we approach the birth of the saviour, we look more closely at the preparation. The immediate anticipation to this extraordinary moment. We saw yesterday how this expectation is is expressed in the O antiphons, where each antiphon to the Gospel is preceded by an O…

O Radix Jesse (O Root of Jesse), O Clavis David (O Key of David), O Oriens (O Dayspring) or Rising Dawn, O Rex Gentium (O King of Nations), until we can sing O Emmanuel (O God with Us).

O Emmanuel, means he is with us. So finally Christmas means he is with us. But wait, he is already with the Blessed Virgin as she runs to her cousin Elisabeth, who also now has become pregnant with John the Baptist.

Two pregnant women. Fragile, delicate, filled with hope. This was not an easy trip, Joseph was there to protect. He took the task seriously. After Christmas we will celebrate the Holy Family. Let us now pray for all the families who will have to connect by zoom.

How to be an example of service, of gift of self? Example of Sigrid Undset, who wrote Kristan Lavransdatter and won the Nobel prize for literature in 1930. Readiness to serve, like a little donkey. “Ut iumentum”. Donkeys in the centre. Blessed Virgin Mary “Ancilla Domini”. Say it devoutly. Pope Gregory The Great (+609) “Servus servorum Dei”, servant of the servants of God.

Music: Adrian Berenguer, the song is called “Fall” from his album Singularity (2017).