Gabriel’s Message
At first glance, the hymn on the back of today’s bulletin may seem out of place during Advent, this joyful time of anticipation. It starts out okay, with the first stanza bringing to mind the Annunciation, the message delivered to the Blessed Virgin Mary that she has been chosen to be the Mother of the Saviour. But no sooner have these words been sung than we come to the main subject of this hymn, which appears to be a little less appropriate amidst our preparations for the joys of Christmas. Gabriel’s Message turns out to be a reflection on the Passion and Death of the Son of God who will be born on Christmas Day.
However, don’t be put off by this apparent opposition. Not only is this a highly suitable subject for our meditations during Advent, it’s actually the very epicenter of the meaning of Christmas, the real “reason for the season.” Christ is born, yes, and we are joyful. But he is born in order to die on a cross. And, believe it or not, that may not be such an inappropriate thought as we first think.
In fact, the future Death of Christ is the most joyful thing about Christmas if we think about the Redemption Story in the right way. One of the most remarkable opportunities of this Advent Season is to view our Lord’s Passion not in terms of his terrible sufferings, thoughts that are better reserved for Lent and Passiontide where they have their proper place. But as we prepare for the birth of the Christ Child, what better way is there to appreciate that birth than by reminding ourselves of the reason why he was born? It’s a reminder echoed in another famous Christmas carol: “To save us all from Satan’s power when we have gone astray.”
We should take the time today to think of Good Friday. For it was indeed Good Friday, a name given to that dreadful day because of the enormity of the good that came of Christ’s sufferings. Today’s hymn, Gabriel’s Message is this precise sentiment. “Death by death its death shall gain,” or in other words, by dying on the cross, Christ definitively destroyed the finality of death and replaced death with redemption. “All the gates of heaven unfold,” they open up and allow those who die in grace to enter in, to an eternity of utter bliss. Without the pains of the cross and the death of the Saviour, this would never have happened.
With this in mind, read carefully through this remarkable Advent carol. Every single line is worthy of our contemplation. Spend such time on it until the words leap out as the true “tidings of comfort and joy”. We will experience a sense of rejoicing unalloyed, no longer mixed up with the usual sorrows of life, the true meaning of Christmas that comes with the transforming birth of the Christ Child. God rest ye, merry gentlemen—let nothing you dismay!”