Ellyn von Huben, in this beautifully stark and poignant reflection, draws our attention to the season of Advent in light of the ongoing persecution of Christians around the world. Comparing the "war on Christmas" to the "war on Christians," Ellyn reflects upon the deeper meaning latent in the lyrics of "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel."
Squeezed somewhere between Jingle Bell Rock and Angels We Have Heard on High, I struggle during Advent to find the plaintive minor tones of O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. This refocuses me on the expectant nature of the season in spite of the poignancy’s potential for gross sentimentality. And I think for any Christian living the stereotypical American middle-class existence there is a definite disconnect; a failure to see that the suffering and longing expressed in this song (a poetic paraphrasing of the O Antiphons that the Church prays on the eight days leading up to Christmas) is very present today.
We feel stressed during Advent. And the pressures on a mom can feel overwhelming. Shopping, cleaning, baking, cooking, plotting social engagements all add up to what feels like an enormous burden. This is not a new phenomenon. Stephen Nissenbaum, in his book, The Battle for Christmas, mentions that women in the nineteenth century were known to swoon from the overwork associated with Christmas. “The task was daunting, and even partial failure (or anxiety about the prospect of failure) meant that guilt would be added to fatigue. Little wonder that Christmas was so often followed by “a siege of illness” for middle-class women.”[1]
But, in all honesty, the worst of our Advent tortures may amount to being trapped in a retail outlet while Barbra Steisand’s Jingle Bells plays on the PA system for what feels like an eternity. And the most appalling sight that we come across is a sea of gaudy Christmas sweaters at a neighborhood cookie exchange.
Most of the news we hear and read talks of Black Friday sales projections and the latest in consumer electronics, all sponsored by purveyors of luxury autos tied up with oversized bows. We hear a lot about a supposed “war on Christmas,” - which is not without its own validity - but almost nothing about a war on Christians.
Once in a while an atrocity will briefly come to the forefront. Slightly more than a month ago, the attack on Baghdad’s Our Lady of Salvation church killed 58 people and wounded 78 others (a grim reminder of why almost half of Iraq’s Christian population has emigrated in the past seven years). This is happening now, near the close of the year 2010. These are our contemporaries; killed by terrorists driving to the slaughter in the same make and model of vehicle that my family will use to navigate the annoyingly crowded church parking lot on Christmas Eve. While I sat at home pondering Amazon wish lists, blood was still fresh on those church walls. If this were an isolated incident it would be dreadful enough. But it is only one example of the array of perils faced by Christians around the world. The harried mom trudging through Macy’s and Target and all points in between is not, despite our delusions, the face of modern Christianity.
If we take a moment to look, it doesn’t take much effort to find persecution. There is Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, India, Colombia. The examples are breathtaking, not just in their scope, but in the way in which they are so easily unseen by other Christians. Pope John Paul II warned about the ‘Herods’ at work in the world today. In his Apostolic Letter of 1994, Tertio Millennio Adveniente, he pointed out that, “At the end of the second millennium, the Church has once again become a Church of martyrs. The persecutions of believers —priests, Religious and laity—has caused a great sowing of martyrdom in different parts of the world. The witness to Christ borne even to the shedding of blood has become a common inheritance of Catholics, Orthodox, Anglicans and Protestants...”
There is a mournful lonely exile happening today. And the holy Wisdom which we implore is still needed. The peace for which we search can only come from Heaven. Despite what we may hear on the 24-hour Christmas music stations, war will not be over because we want it. But there is reason to rejoice - death’s dark shadow will be put to flight.
I must listen to the song. Prayerfully ponder the antiphons. Shake the 18 colors of Martha Stewart glitter from my gluey fingers and turn off the nth viewing of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. And pray for my brothers and sisters for whom these words are a vivid, daily reality. And know that there still is reason to rejoice: Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son and his name shall be called Emmanuel. (Isaiah 7:14) Emmanuel. ‘Tomorrow, he will come.’ God with us! Yes, rejoice.
O come, O come, Emmanuel,
and ransom captive Israel,
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.
O come, thou Wisdom from on high,
who orderest all things mightily;
to us the path of knowledge show,
and teach us in her ways to go.
O come, thou Rod of Jesse, free
thine own from Satan's tyranny;
from depths of hell thy people save,
and give them victory over the grave.
O come, thou Dayspring, 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, great Lord of might,
who to thy tribes on Sinai's height
in ancient times once gave the law
in cloud and majesty and awe.
O come, thou Root of Jesse's tree,
an ensign of thy people be;
before thee rulers silent fall;
all peoples on thy mercy call.
O come, Desire of nations, bind
in one the hearts of all mankind;
bid thou our sad divisions cease,
and be thyself our King of Peace.
O come, O come, Emmanuel,
and ransom captive Israel,
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
[1] Stephen Nissenbaum, The Battle for Christmas (New York, New York; Vintage Books; 1997) p.250.
Ellyn von Huben is a frequent blogger for Word on Fire Catholic Ministries. She also has her own blog entitled Oblique House.
The persecution of Christians in Iraq has escalated since the time of the massacre at the Baghdad church. Please take the time to look at the following sites to familiarize yourself with the situation facing our Christian brothers and sisters in the Middle East:
December 2: A Catholic survivor of the Iraqi church massacre speaks
December 5: Gunmen kill elderly Christian couple inside their Baghdad home.
An article requesting the canonization of the Iraqi Christian martyrs here.
Thank you, and please continue to pray for these victims in the Middle East.