O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
Homily on the First Sunday of Advent, 1 Dec 2024, SJB Parish Cotcot, Liloan
One of my favourite songs for Advent is O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. I guess many of you know this song, do you? It is a classic yet until today it has remained very popular especially in many Catholic churches. Here are the lyrics of the first stanza and the refrain:
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel / and ransom captive Israel
that mourns in lowly exile here / until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel (Gaude, gaude! Emmanuel)
shall come to you, O Israel! (nascetur pro te, Israel)
This hymn was originally written in Latin over 1,200 years ago (sometime in the 8th or 9th century). Its first English translation was done by an Anglican Priest named, John Mason Neale. It was actually meant to be sung during vespers eight days before Christmas, each stanza of which was an antiphon to the singing of our Lady’s Magnificat. Today this hymn continues to be sung by almost all Christians across different denominations all over the world. And I believe this is the hymn that can unite together all of us who believe in Jesus Christ our Redeemer and in his second coming as King and Judge of all.
If we are to look closely at the lyrics, we would find them loaded with both meaning and human sentiments. They are so expressive of our difficult conditions arising from crisis situations, and the consequent longing for the coming of a meek yet powerful Savior who can ransom us from helplessness, loneliness and despair. The succeding stanzas of this beautiful hymn are as moving as the first.
O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free / thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save, / and give them victory o’er the grave.
O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer, / our Spirits by Thine Advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night, / and death’s dark shadows put to flight.
O come, Thou Key of David, come / and open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high, / and close the path to misery.
O come, O come, thou Lord of Might / who to Thy tribes, on Sinai’s height,
in ancient times didst give the law, / in cloud, and majesty, and awe.
O come, Thou Wisdom from on high, / and order all things, far and nigh;
To us the path of knowledge show, / and cause us in her ways to go.
O come, Desire of nations, bind / all peoples in one heart and mind;
Bid envy, strife and quarrels cease; / fill the whole world with heaven’s peace.
Aside from expressing our pitiful situation, this hymn also makes known who Jesus is. Allow me just to highlight the many titles of the Lord mentioned above: Jesus is the (1) Emmanuel, (2) Rod of Jesse, (3) Day-Spring, (4) Key of David, (5) Lord of Might, (6) Wisdom from on High, and (7) Desire of the Nations.
It is small wonder then that this hymn has been sung by Christians for the past twelve-hundred years especially for liturgies during the Advent season. By the way, below is a beautiful instrumental rendition of this song by the Piano Guys in YouTube, this is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO7ySn-Swwc
Brothers and sisters we have just begun the new season of Advent to prepare us for the joyful celebration of Christmas. This period is really meant to be a time of prayerful and vigilant waiting for the coming of the Lord. In fact the gospel passage proclaimed for us today tells us emphatically to stay awake and be watchful.
Advent is God’s gift. As you all know, it was given to the Church to prepare all Christians for the celebration of Christmas. However, we need to know that Advent is meant also to prepare us for the second and final coming of Christ either at the end of time or at the end of our lives. If you noticed, for the past several weeks (towards the end of the liturgical year before and after the solemnity of Christ the King) the daily Scripture readings at Mass were about the end times. These passages were meant to prepare Christians for the return of the great Messiah who promised that he will come again one day to take the faithful ones with him to his heavenly Kingdom.
And now that we have begun this new season of Advent Jesus continues to speak to us as he did long ago. He is telling us to be watchful for he will be coming again on a day and at an hour no one would know and expect. And what should we be watchful of? I believe it is not so much what is happening outside of us but rather what is really happening within us. We should watch our thoughts, our feelings, our attitudes, our reactions, and the way we live our faith day by day.
After all these past months that we have been walking with Jesus from one Sunday after the other , I guess it is high time that we reflect and ask ourselves “In what way have I grown in my faith? Have I come to know Jesus more deeply? Has there been any change in me in the way I think, I speak, I react, I do things and relate with people… in the way I live and celebrate my faith as a Catholic? Have I become a little more like Jesus compared to last year? This is not meant to bombard you with so many questions to answer. You may just choose any one of these for your personal reflection.
I guess at this point you also might be bogged down by many other questions that are as difficult to answer, like why is there so much suffering in the world? When will our trials and difficulties end? Where is this world really heading to? Is there really hope that better days are yet to come?
I won’t pretend to have all the answers. But the first reading offers us a good reason to continue hoping, despite all the tragedies, trials and tribulations. God said through the prophet Jeremiah “The days are coming, says the LORD, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and Judah.” We Christians are the new Israel and the new Judah. What could God’s promise be to us?
As many of you might agree with, here in our country as in many parts of the world, civil leaders (although not all) do not do what is right and just. The good news is, today the Lord says “I will raise up for David a just shoot” which means that he will be sending a great King from the lineage of King David who “shall do what is right and just in the land.” And when that day comes, there will be “safety and security” for everyone. And so, no matter how seemingly hopeless our situation might be for now, our Lord is telling us not to give up HOPE, for Advent is really meant to rekindle our HOPE in the Lord, who will definitely fulfill his promise.
Brothers and sisters, it is not enough that we simply wait for Christmas to come, Jesus is calling us to be watchful and hopeful for his glorious return, no matter when. For he, the victorious King and just Judge, will certainly come again as he promised in order to ransom us and make us rejoice forever.
May this Eucharist truly encourage us and empower us to serve God faithfully day by day, confident, hopeful and excited for the coming of the Lord, so that one day we may share in his glorious victory and be numbered among the saints for all eternity. O Come, O Come Emmanuel! GiGsss!
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