{"id":106,"date":"2020-11-30T20:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-01T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=106"},"modified":"2020-11-30T16:44:00","modified_gmt":"2020-11-30T21:44:00","slug":"o-come-o-come-emmanuel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2020\/11\/30\/o-come-o-come-emmanuel\/","title":{"rendered":"O Come O Come Emmanuel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Father Gregory Boyle directs Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles, arguably the world\u2019s most successful ministry to the members of inner city gangs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He is inundated by opportunities to speak around the country.  It\u2019s no surprise that he sometimes falls back on the same compelling stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few summers ago, Boyle was asked to present the keynote for a gathering of foster grandparents in southern California.  He had spoken at the same event the previous summer, and many of the same attendees were in the audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After his presentation, a grandmother approached him.  Her eyes filled with tears.  She grabbed both of Boyle\u2019s hands and said, with great emotion, \u201cI heard you last year.  It never gets better!\u201d  Boyle cherishes the hope that she was actually expressing her appreciation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On this first Monday of Advent, what we know for sure is that Christmas never gets better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s time to sing the same songs, renew our favorite traditions, and plunge once again into those oh-so-familiar biblical accounts of the birth of Jesus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We run the risk, of course, of repeating ourselves.  But that\u2019s OK.  Even though we\u2019ve spotlighted Christmas carols before, let\u2019s do it again.  Between now and Christmas Eve, each morning reflection will either tackle the deep background of one of the old favorites, or examine a timeless spiritual song for the first time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What exactly is a Christmas carol?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The word \u201ccarol\u201d appears to come from the Greek word choros<\/em>, which means \u201cdance.\u201d  We see that in the word \u201cchoreography.\u201d It might be simplest to say that Christmas carols prompt the dancing of human hearts.  They convey spiritual insights about the story of Jesus\u2019 birth that are both joyous and easy to sing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there\u2019s such a thing as the first <\/em>carol that ought to be sung every year as Christmas approaches, it\u2019s O Come, O Come Emmanuel<\/em> \u2013 first in terms of the story it tells (\u201cone day the Messiah will come\u201d) and first in terms of its antiquity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than a thousand years ago, monks did not commonly read music.  They learned to sing \u201cplainsongs,\u201d simple melodies passed on from generation to generation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This carol\u2019s melody, which is in a minor key, is particularly haunting.  The words were originally translated from twelfth century Latin verses.   It\u2019s impossible to say how many different hands might have contributed to the words and music over the centuries.  The original composer(s) will probably never be known: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

O come, O come Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That mourns in lonely exile here, until the Son of God appear.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(chorus) Rejoice!  Rejoice!  Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

O come Thou Dayspring, come and cheer our spirits by Thine advent here,<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Disperse the gloomy clouds of night, and death\u2019s dark shadows put to flight.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

O come, Desire of Nations bind all peoples in one heart and mind;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bid envy, strife and quarrels cease, fill all the world with heaven\u2019s peace.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s a soulful rendition<\/a> by the Piano Guys, two musicians from St. George, Utah, who in 2011 began to craft videos as a way to promote a friend\u2019s retail piano store.  Jon Schmidt, the pianist, and Steven Sharp Nelson, on the cello, capture this carol\u2019s inherent sadness and yearning \u2013 Lord, when are you ever going to come to set things right in this messed-up world? <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who is this Emmanuel? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Matthew 1:23, Jesus would bear that title.  It means \u201cGod With Us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every time we turn toward Jesus we discover in fresh and powerful ways that God is always alongside us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God is with you in your marriage that is full of pain.  God is with you in chemotherapy.  God is with you as you scramble to find enough money to keep your small business afloat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God is with you in your isolation during this pandemic surge.  God is with you when a family member says, \u201cI don\u2019t want to be in this family with you any longer.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no event, no appointment, no circumstance in which Jesus will ever fail to live up to the name that he has been given for eternity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He is Emmanuel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rejoice!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Father Gregory Boyle directs Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles, arguably the world\u2019s most successful ministry to the members of inner city gangs. He is inundated by opportunities to speak around the country.  It\u2019s no surprise that he sometimes falls back on the same compelling stories. A few summers ago, Boyle was asked to present the keynote for a gathering of… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":107,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[9],"class_list":["post-106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-christmas-carols"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":108,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106\/revisions\/108"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}