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The Evil Before Christmas: A Franciscan Reflection on Advent

by Taming the Wolf • Franciscan Spirituality


 

Guest post by Lindsay Stone

Iraqi Christian Refugees

Did you hear about the Christian children who were beheaded in Iraq? Four of them accepted martyrdom rather than renounce Jesus. The Vicar of Baghdad, Canon Andrew White, tells the story this way:

“Islamic State turned up and said to the children, you say the words that you will follow Mohammed. The children, all under 15, four of them, said ‘No, we love Yesua (the Iraqi name for Jesus), we have always loved Yesua, we have always followed Yesua, Yesua has always been with us.’”

After asking the children once more to convert and once more receiving their refusal, ISIS militants beheaded them.

The Least of These

Unfortunately, the beheading of four innocent children is hardly an isolated incident. According to the Jerusalem Post, More than 250,000 Christians have fled Iraq in the face of persecution at the hands of the Islamic State, which is now using Christian churches in Mosul as prisons. Christians in the region have been driven out, persecuted, systematically exterminated.

Canon White goes on to say that Christian families who fled Baghdad to escape violence there found themselves face to face with ISIS in their traditional home of Nineveh. “They killed huge numbers, they chopped their children in half, they chopped their heads off, and they moved north and it was so terrible what happened,” he said.

Perhaps it’s strange to open a post about Christmas with the beheading of children. Perhaps it’s strange to mention such evil acts this time of year. Perhaps it shouldn’t be.

The Reality of Evil

Evil. Enemies. Those are words we don’t hear often this time of year. Usually we hear other words. Words like joy, merry, greetings, happiness, and hope. Perhaps, as Rev. Rutler says, that’s because Christmas, with its hallowed and sometimes shallowed joy, has swallowed Advent, with its emphasis on Death, Judgment, and Hell. Or perhaps it’s because Advent is indeed a season of hope. A season of joy and anticipation. A time of watching and waiting.

Then again, it might be appropriate to ask: For what? For what do we hope? For what are we joyful? For what are we waiting?

While some Americans are waiting for the best deals on Xboxes, faithful Christians around the world are waiting for something quite different. They are waiting for justice. They are waiting for peace. They are waiting for freedom. They are waiting for the God who will give them rest from all their enemies, as we hear in the first reading for Christmas Eve.

Indeed, strange as it may sound to our ears, evil is at the heart of Christmas. We might even ask if there would be a Christmas without evil, or at least if we would have so much cause for joy, because without evil there would be no need for deliverance, no need for hope. It is only because we live in a world consumed with wickedness that we have reason to proclaim:

O Radiant Dawn,

splendor of eternal light, sun of justice:

come and shine on those who dwell

in darkness and in the shadow of death.

It is only because we dwell in darkness and in the shadow of death that we need salvation, and it is only because we need salvation that we hail the coming of the savior. That’s why a Franciscan looks beyond the shallow joy of commercialized Christmases, to the hope that lies on the other side of this dark night of evil.

Over at his blog, Standing on My Head, Dwight Longenecker also reminds us to remember the shadowy side of life when he says, “in this winter season we also ought to face the facts of the grim reaper.” Yes, and let us face the facts of evil, if only because too often people ignore it, underestimate it, pretend it doesn’t exist, pretend it’s just a metaphor or an archaic concept that has outlived its usefulness. If ISIS has shown anyone with eyes anything, it is that evil exists.

Unfortunately, these days it can seem as if evil doesn’t merely exist, but triumphs. It can seem as if the whole world is consumed by evil, or at least by those who turn a blind eye to it and therefore enable it. Sometimes it can seem, to those who are paying attention, as if the darkness has overwhelmed this abode of man.

And yet…

The Eternal Hope

We have hope. We know that however powerful evil may seem at the moment, however triumphant it may appear in this world, it does not and will not have the final word. We sing with joy because know the end of the story, even if we have not yet turned the page. We have hope because Jesus came to free us from sin, and he will come again to defeat evil once and for all. Jesus came to lead us out of the darkness.

Indeed, he is already here, in the Eucharist, calling us out of the darkness each and every day, but never more so than in this time of Advent, in this time of joyful anticipation, when we are preparing to mark the moment our savoir came into the world to guide us out of it, when we are preparing to welcome him back again in glory to judge the living and the dead. This time of year the call is louder than ever.

Unfortunately, far too many never hear it. Perhaps the commercials are too loud. Perhaps too many of us are too busy finding things to fill the space under the Christmas tree, all the while forgetting to fill the space in our hearts.

Perhaps that’s why I started this post with such a gruesome story, to remind us what we’re up against, so that we can remember what we hope for. As Pope Emeritus Benedict once said, let us be full of hope and allow “for that final unforeseen in-breaking of God to set the soul free from the clutches of evil and destructive men.” Because in the end it is only God who can free us from the evil in our hearts and from the evil in the world.

Let us take advantage of this season to remember: that which we long for beyond all else, whether we know it or not, is coming. Stay awake! Be prepared! The Kingdom of God is drawing near. Emmanuel will return. Let us remember the martyred and persecuted Christians, if only to remember what it is we are waiting for: the God who will finally “set us free from the hand of our enemies, free to worship him without fear, holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life” (Luke 1:73-75).

Let the rest of the world shout Season’s Greetings between ceiling-high shelves of fluorescent-lit plastic toys. We will sing marana tha.

 


 

Lindsay Stone has a B.A., summa cum laude, in International Affairs and an M.A. in Political Geography. She now works as a freelance writer and Director of Communications for Taming the Wolf Institute.

 

* Photo source: Red State

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Comments

  1. Michelle Carpenter

    Dec 15, 2014 at 5:28 am

    I pray for these dear ones everyday, they are such an inspiration to us. I want to be united to them in their suffering and have those special graces when my turn comes. Praise be Jesus, Yesua. now and for always. He Is My HERO. Love, Michelle

    Reply
    • Ginger

      Dec 15, 2014 at 5:48 pm

      I am touched at the strength of faith in these children and I pray for all the people who are persecuted for their faith. An image remains in my mind of a small girl dressed in a pretty blue dress with ruffles and white stockings missing her head. I saw this on a website detailing an attack by ISIS. She has come to represent the pure evil of what is being done to Christians. Oh, Lord, this must stop. Please help these people. Amen

      Reply
  2. Darla trepoy

    Dec 15, 2014 at 6:10 am

    Wow.truly a timely and unique message, seldom given thank you have a holy advent and Christmas…darla

    Reply
  3. Mary Ellen DeBord

    Dec 15, 2014 at 6:48 am

    You have spoken eloquently what we see and know to be the truth. May God bless us with the strenght we need to fight this battle. May the Blessed Mother be with us and may St. Michael the Archangel lead us, her army, as she fulfills what God foretold in Genesis – she will crush the head of the serpent. The beast has put in the hearts of men to snuff out the light in the darkness. Together in prayer and fasting may we form a torch of light as we wait in joyful hope.

    Reply
  4. KEN

    Dec 15, 2014 at 7:50 am

    THANK YOU,AND GOD BLESS YOU. IT BROUGHT BACK A MEMORY IN MY CHILDHOOD THAT I NEVER WANT TO FORGET.

    Reply
  5. frj

    Dec 15, 2014 at 8:35 am

    Sadly, while preaching the 3rd week of Advent, i mentioned two things: real torture like the killing of the innocent in the middle east and “feinstein torture” …….and what kind of response did i get: how dare you talk about sen. feinstein…….

    catholics here in this part of America are more interested in their iphony6 and xbox and other items on sale………

    thanks for speaking truth!

    Reply
    • Greg

      Dec 16, 2014 at 12:12 pm

      There is so much work to be done to educate people when it comes to deception, which is so common in the political realm where leaders have become cynical and corrupt. It is a problem that can be solved but so much work to be done.

      Reply
  6. Lilian Franklin

    Dec 15, 2014 at 8:53 am

    Thank you for shining a light on the reality of Christian persecution at this time of year. The article was poignantly written and direct. My heart breaks for our brothers and sisters in the middle east and elsewhere who face such cruelty. Those beautiful children stand as examples of courage. They are martyrs like those of old throughout the centuries from the very beginning of the Church. I have donated to the CNEWA to help the thousands upon thousands of refugees fleeing the region and their situation is desperate. I hope many more will contribute to this cause. God bless them and us. Come Lord Jesus!

    Reply
  7. Victoria O'Neil

    Dec 15, 2014 at 9:44 am

    I would like to tell the Preacher, keep preaching the truth about persecuted Christians all over the world, including America. So a few complain, so what? We don’t live in a bubble. many times a few people complain and the majority suffer consequences, I.E. Prayer in school, taking down public Nativities, Ten Commandments being removed, teaching Islam in our schools but can’t exercise our Christian traditions and faith, etc. etc.

    Reply
  8. Vickie MacDonald

    Dec 15, 2014 at 8:11 pm

    Just the same as Jesus’ time….the slaughter of the innocents. Gather these close to Your Sacred Heart.

    Reply
  9. Luciano

    Dec 17, 2014 at 12:53 am

    This reminds me of what the priest said in the movie “for greater glory'”
    To die for Christ is the greater glory!

    Reply
  10. Kathy AE

    Dec 26, 2014 at 6:31 pm

    As we get more details and information about the persecutions by Isis and other groups, it has occurred to me often that the Church is gaining many new martyrs. Not only should we pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters, but we can also pray TO those we absolutely know to be saints. “Four little martyrs of Isis, pray for us!”

    Reply
  11. Dawn

    Dec 26, 2014 at 10:03 pm

    Of course, Jesus was with these children who did not deny Him. They obviously had supernatural strength to endure what they did (martyrdom). I believe they could see Him.

    May we have their Faith-for what’s ahead for each of us. Pray for it!

    Reply

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