# Let us adore the Lord Jesus who came into the world
*2015-01-16*

> Bill Young reflects on the feast of St. Anthony the Abbot and leads a prayer of adoration for the Incarnation of Jesus Christ.

## The Legacy of St. Anthony the Abbot

Today is January 17th, the feast day of St. Anthony the Abbot. Originally from Egypt in the third century, St. Anthony was a hermit and one of our original abbots and hermit monks. Although he lived a solitary life, he had thousands of followers, and when he emerged from the desert, he performed many great works.

## A Chance Encounter

I want to share a quick story. This past Thursday, while working at the Panthers game, I met the nicest man from Egypt. He was the first person I have ever met from Egypt, and it was his first hockey game. I truly hope he had a great time.

## A Prayer of Adoration

I would like to share a prayer from my prayer book titled 'Let Us Adore Jesus Who Came Into the World.'

Oh Lord Jesus, eagerly awaited by humanity for centuries and longed for by our poor hearts, we greet and adore you. In the name of all creatures, we express our immense gratitude to you for having come to save us according to divine promise. We want to honor you with as much joy and fervor as we can muster. Today, we cry: glory and honor and blessing be to you, the Word of God made flesh. We adore you and praise you, the Son of God and of Mary. We adore you in your extreme poverty. We adore you, the Lamb of God who came to take away our sins. We adore you, Bread of Life, who came to give us true life. We adore you because you united yourself to us in our tears and in our suffering in order to give us true happiness. We adore you, oh God, who became a child. To you we sing, glory to God in the highest.

We adore you and love you with the heart of Mary, your most holy mother, and of Joseph, your most chaste father. We love you and offer you our hearts with all the power of love that you yourself have given us. We hold you close to our humble hearts with all the strength that you have given us. We love you, O divine victim of love, who came to bring us peace, hope, and joy. Oh, Jesus, divine child, all of us present embrace you and ask that we may never be separated from you. Amen.

## A Call to Action

I have a great thought for today that I found on the Saints app. It states: 'Unless you are doing all that you can, you are doing less than you should.' Amen to that.

*We should strive to do all that we can for the Lord, recognizing that anything less is less than we should.*