O Rex gentium

O Rex Gentium, et desideratus earum,
lapisque angularis, qui facis utraque unum:
veni, et salva hominem,
quem de limo formasti.

O King of the nations, and their desire,
the cornerstone making both one:
Come and save the human race,
which you fashioned from clay.

I always feel the “you made us” argument is a bit petulant, almost. “Oi! God! You got us INTO this mess, you get us out of it! We didn’t ASK to be born!

But the flip side of that petulance is a strong desire for God, which must in turn acknowledge that God, and God alone, can indeed get us out of “this mess”. Humans have been trying since year dot, and we haven’t managed it. Maybe this hope is born out of desperation; but to trust in the God who fashioned us is a very different response to the world than simple despair.