Download O King of all the nations - Our Lady of the Mississippi Abbey

O KING of ALL the NATIONS
O King of all the nations, so long desired, so long awaited the keystone that binds us into one,
the Cornerstone of all unity: O Come, come and save the human race whom you fashioned from
earthen clay.
We are fashioned by God from earthen clay. Clay cracks. Clay breaks. We do too. We are
wounded. We are broken. We are in need of healing.
In JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, the returning king, Aragon, the Christ’s figure in the story
enters the city, his kingdom, first as healer rather than conqueror. A prophecy has been written
about him:
The hands of the king are the hands of a healer, and so shall the rightful king be known.
Jesus, our King comes first as healer and comes to heal us. And we know him by his healing.
Michael Casey in the talks we have been listening to speaks about contemplation as Jesus’
hidden but active presence in our lives as real communion with God. When we cease from
conscious activity; this contemplation is our rest and consolation. Michael in his piercing way
says that this time given to prayer is not some vaguely pious somulance but a time which allows
Jesus to work in us. It results in the healing of our wounds, the refreshment of our mind and the
restoration of our energies. The hands of the king are the hands of a healer, and so shall the
rightful king be known.
God heals us slowly, everyday. Why? So that we are not under the damning illusion that we heal
ourselves. So we know that Jesus heals us and we know him first as healer and then as King.
Christ is our cornerstone and binds us together. He is the cornerstone of our abbey and offers us
the gift of our monastic life together.