HOMILY for December 17, 2017: 3rd Sunday of Advent, Cycle B

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3^rd Sunday of Advent, Cycle B

Terranova Hermitage

December 17, 2017

What’s in a Song?

By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato

 

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

The hymn that I have always linked with the Advent Season is O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.

I remember singing this hymn from when I was a child.  It is a real classic and it dates – amazingly –all the way back to the year 800 – 1200 years ago! 

It contains verses like these: “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, And ransom captive Israel.  That mourns in lonely exile here, Until the Son of God appear.”

Then, in another verse: “To us the path of knowledge show, And teach us in her ways to go.”  And in another verse: “Disperse the gloomy clouds of night, And death’s dark shadow put to flight.”

A Savior?  From What?

This hymn beautifully expresses the human yearning for a savior and for salvation.

This desire lies at the heart of the Advent Season.  But I think there is an important question here.

Do you and I, as people who generally like to be independent and self-sufficient, do we honestly believe we need to be saved?  Do we really believe we need a savior?

Or, to put it differently, from what do we need to be saved?  This is an important question and it is especially appropriate during Advent. 

A theologian named Paul Tillich has a great insight into why we need a savior and what we need to be saved from.  He says that we and all persons of all time need a savior because, deep-down, we feel three anxieties.

We feel anxiety 1) about darkness, 2) about meaning, and 3) about death.  These three anxieties exist right in the core of our humanity.

From Anxiety about Darkness

First, deep-down we feel anxiety about darkness.

We see that there is darkness in the world. We wonder if we have some responsibility for the bleakness that is there.

We are also sure that there is some darkness within us.  We know that sometimes we do wrong in spite of our good intentions. 

And so, we need salvation from this anxiety about darkness, a savior who can forgive us and love us unconditionally.  And this is why we sing, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, And ransom captive Israel.”   

From Anxiety about Meaning

And then, deep-down we feel anxiety about meaning – the meaning of life.

This anxiety may show itself in our need to be right.  Or it may show itself in our need to have our thinking or our accomplishments affirmed by others.

Or we may worry that we are missing something in life.  We may have an inner, gnawing feeling that our basic life choices have left us incomplete and that there must be more to life.

And so, we need salvation from this anxiety about meaning, a savior who gives us the way and the purpose and the goal for our lives.  And this is why we sing, “To us the path of knowledge show, And teach us in her ways to go.” 

From Anxiety about Death

And finally, deep-down we feel anxiety about death.

We know that eventually we will die but we don’t like thinking about it.  Our hair starts to turn gray, and we probably aren’t too pleased.

We may find ourselves getting tired and having less energy, and we try to avoid admitting it.  We resist facing up to these things because they remind us, maybe only subconsciously, of death.

And so, we need salvation from this anxiety about death, a savior who can transform death into new life.  And this is why we sing, “Disperse the gloomy clouds of night, And death’s dark shadow put to flight.”

Salvation from These Anxieties

What I recommend is that Advent addresses these deep-down human anxieties – about darkness and meaning and death.

John the Baptist in today’s gospel and this entire season point us to the savior.  So, with that in mind, I invite you to join in singing some of those very poignant verses in O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.