Perhaps you don’t feel inclined to rejoice as we engage with Advent this year. And that’s okay. Advent does not demand joy and celebration, although there’s nothing wrong with expressing happy emotions or accompanying others who are keen to express them. Advent meets us where we are, in every season of life, in whatever mental or emotional frame it finds us.
But Advent does more. It draws us on toward a special place where we encounter divine grace as we wait and watch. Advent opens a sacred space within, a place for refreshment and renewal, a rich soil in which to plant small seeds of hope.
The biblical story of the Nativity contributes to the richness and holiness of the season. So too do the carols we love to hear and sing at this time of year. Perhaps you have a favourite carol, significant because of a special place where you remember singing it, or memorable because of the loved ones who sang with you.
One of my favourite carols is the hauntingly beautiful “O come, O come, Emmanuel.” Its roots reach back to the early church’s O Antiphons, the great Magnificat liturgy used at the Church’s Evening Prayer on the last seven days of Advent. They date at least as far back as sixth-century Italy, when the philosopher Boethius refers to the text in his The Consolation of Philosophy.
As well as aesthetic qualities, the carol embodies a rich vein of theological truth. Each antiphon names a longing drawn from the Hebrew Scriptures, applied or adapted by Christians to the character and identity of the Christ Child: “O God-with-Us,” “O Wisdomfrom on high,” “O great Lord of might,” “O Branch of Jesse’s stem,” “O Key of David,” “O Bright and Morning Star,” “O King of Nations.”
These ancient prayers or aspirations remind us that Advent is so much more than a countdown to a secularised and commercialised Christmas. It is a season of holy yearning, an opportunity to reflect on what God is up to in salvation history, a sacred time of remembrance and anticipation.
The carol begins with a cry from deep within the human story: “and ransom captive Israel, that mourns in lonely exile here.” This is the condition of every human heart, far from home, perhaps distant from God and God’s love. We know what it’s like to feel lost, dislocated, overwhelmed, or far from peace. We know the ache of unanswered questions, broken relationships, and a fractured and uncertain world. Advent permits us the freedom to name this ache.
Yet the refrain interrupts our lament with a welcome burst of hope: “Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.” The joy is rooted in the promise that God comes to his people. God is with us. God is not above us, not distant from us, but embraces our exile, enters our experience, stands with us in our darkness, and speaks light.
With each verse, the carol invites us to recall – and experience –different aspects of the life and light of Christ. It is a beautifulreminder of the manifold dimensions of the Christian hope.
Note especially the verbs in each stanza describing the saving acts of our Emmanuel. Drawing on Hebrew texts, the carol declares that God orders all things, gave the Law at Sinai, shows us the path of true knowledge, and teaches us to faithfully pursue it.
The carol confesses that Emmanuel comes for us and for our salvation. Various stanzas declare that God in Christ rescues, ransoms, saves, and gives victory to God’s people. He brings comfort, dispels the shadows and turns our darkness into light.
Moreover, the carol reminds us that Emmanuel causes all divisions to cease, binds in one the hearts of humankind, bars the way to death’s abode, opens wide our heavenly home, and makes our path home safe. This is the glorious comprehensive hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Finally, notice the shift in the last line from a long string of active verbs to the infinitive verb: “And be thyself our King of Peace.” After labour comes rest; after salvation comes solace. Here, the author of the carol expressed a desire for Christ to rule over us with benevolence, for our wellbeing, embodying all that is true of peace. Emmanuel, God with us.
May you experience the peace of God through Christ Jesus this Advent season.
O come, O come, Emmanuel,
and ransom captive Israel
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, O Wisdom from on high,
who ordered all things mightily;
to us the path of knowledge show
and teach us in its ways to go.
O come, O come, great Lord of might,
who to thy tribes on Sinai’s height
in ancient times did give the law
in cloud and majesty and awe.
O come, O Branch of Jesse’s stem,
unto thine own and rescue them!
From depths of hell thy people save,
and give them victory o’er the grave.
O come, O Key of David, come
and open wide our heavenly home.
Make safe for us the heavenward road
and bar the way to death’s abode.
O come, O Bright and Morning Star,
and bring us comfort from afar!
Dispel the shadows of the night
and turn our darkness into light.
O come, O King of nations, bind
in one the hearts of humankind.
Bid all our sad divisions cease
and be thyself our King of Peace.
Image source: Pymble Catholic Parish
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