Memorial of Saint John of the Cross, Priest and Doctor of the Church

Lectionary: 185

"To what shall I compare this generation?  
It is like children who sit in marketplaces and call to one another, 'We played the  flute for you, but you did not dance, 
we sang a dirge but you did not mourn.' 


Advent and Christmas celebrate the coming of the Prophet, an anointed one, favored by God yet doomed to rejection, condemnation and death. His disciples, during his brief career, never quite understand his fate; they hope against hope that it's not true. Nor do they embrace their own destiny until he has suffered his passion and death and been raised up triumphant. 
The prophet's birth in a manger, the slaughter of innocents, his exile in Egypt: the religious stories and symbols of Christmas are ominous. And yet we celebrate this season with great joy. We remember the appearance of angels to shepherds and the ecstatic joy of Simeon and Anna. These were not the great and powerful of the world; their joy meant nothing to the influential. If Jesus' parents, the shepherds and the elderly couple didn't hide the good news in secrecy, it was nonetheless smothered by indifference. 
Matthew records some disturbance about the rumors. 

When King Herod heard this, he was greatly troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

But they got over it. King Herod, a minor official of the Roman Empire known as "...the Great," confidently believed his army obliterated the threat. If he had any doubt he knew could suppress any more stirrings of hope among the poor. 
We're watching another, recurrence of hope among South and Central Americans as several thousand migrants trek to North America. This incident is not an anomaly; it is preceded by migrations since the dawn of history, and will be followed by many more. With the deforestation of the Amazon River basin, rising sea levels, desertification of arable land around the world, the ever-widening gap between poor and wealthy nations, and the international sweep of diseases -- viral, psychological and spiritual -- no nation should expect to protect its borders with military force. The rise of nationalism in many nations will make the situation more brittle and volatile. They might as well throw a nuke at a hurricane and expect to diffuse it. 
The seeds of discontent, which American businesses planted in banana orchards, coffee trees and shady loans to corrupt officials are maturing and bearing fruit. It's all the more disturbing since few American citizens want to know how this all came about. Our drug addicts do not suppose their craving have international repercussions. Our patriotic hunters can't suppose that their gun lobby consorts with criminals and gangs in foreign countries. 
The Gospel of Jesus' birth was not successfully suppressed by Herod's armies. Nor can we expect military arms, economic forces or high tech walls to stop the flow of history. 
Advent will teach us not to fear Christmas, after it has taught us that the Birth of the Prophet is fearful. Let those who have ears to hear, listen.