Hey Church... how about if we quit picking fights?
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, Mary Did You Know, And More
Hey, Church… how about if we quit picking dumb fights during December?
This is the time of year when liturgists start browbeating us for using O Come, O Come, Emmanuel before Dec. 17th. I know. I used to be one of them.
We don’t need to ban O Come, O Come, Emmanuel until the end of Advent. We just don’t. I know each verse is connected to a specific day’s liturgy. But that doesn’t mean it’s the only time it’s ever appropriate to use it! Would you say we can never use Psalm 25 unless it’s in the prescribed readings for the day? Or Psalm 23? Of course not!
Besides, today’s first reading was the “root of Jesse,” for Heaven’s sake!
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel IS APPROPRIATE FOR ADVENT. THE WHOLE SEASON. This is not a fight worth picking.
Secondly, quit picking on Mary, Did You Know. It’s a beautiful song. People groused about O Holy Night when it was new, too. Mary, Did You Know has some really lovely imagery in it. If it causes us to think more profoundly about the Incarnation, about the awe and mystery and wonder of what we’re celebrating, isn’t that a good thing? If it causes us to understand Mary in a more authentic way, isn’t that good, too?
Also: those of you who say, “Yes, Mary DID know, because the angel told her!” …. You’re just wrong. Gabriel, as a wise friend of mine notes, was a little sketchy on the details. Even the prophecy of Simeon didn’t talk about walking on water, for instance.
And while we’re at it, how about if we all calm down about “Happy Holidays” versus “Merry Christmas”? First, because we live in a pluralistic society where every major world religion has a holiday between now and the end of the year, so it’s just plain Christlike hospitality to include everyone.
But more to the point, don’t you realize “holiday” = “holy day”? What are you actually fussing about?
(Stepping off my December soapbox now…)
It is interesting to think about what Mary knew, and when. There is a tendency I've seen in some writing to almost make Mary a female Jesus--and to almost strip Him of his humanity. I mean we see him get mad during the cleansing of temple, but that's it. Did He never get exasperated with the clueless disciples? Did he utter an expletive when the nail went through his hand or foot? She was a teenager when the angel appeared. The Jews were looking for a conventional king--gold, robes, palace, power. She was a Jew. Did she have dreams of becoming Queen Mother? Not once?