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Advent, Christmas, feasts, Jesus, new life, reflective moment, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, waiting
The waiting has begun. Today is the first (Sun)day of Advent and there is no doubt that we are in a new season, even as the calendar says we have yet to arrive at the first day of winter, still three weeks away. Christian tradition interestingly calls this day a new beginning even though it is the beginning only of preparation for the major feast of Christmas. The feeling this morning here in New York State is one of expectation – but not so happy. We’re expecting a strong storm, a significant dump of snow. It’s been happening all over the country, coming east and promising all kinds of havoc in travel and cancellations of all kinds of events.
People everywhere will be marking important feasts toward the end of December – some central to their religious practice and some cultural events. Whether Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Diwali, the Chinese New Year or the Winter Solstice, it’s a time for consideration of what we are about as we move into a new season of life. As I sit here this morning my brain and my body are alert for the first sign of snow and/or ice tapping on my window. It’s like a time of pregnancy when everything strains toward a new life and all that such an event will mean to change things. Yes, that’s exactly what it’s like…what it is actually for those of us who now begin the intense season of Advent – this “New Year’s Day” in the Christian Church.
How will this season of Advent – a brief 24 days this year – ready us for a deeper understanding of what the birth of Jesus into the world can mean? When all the festivities of the Christmas season are over, will we be different? Kinder, perhaps? More tolerant and even loving? Where will the emphasis of our “new beginning,” the recognition of our “New Year’s resolutions” be written in our hearts? Today is the day to begin this searching, the reflective moment for stopping to look deeply for possibilities. The snow will blanket us in silence and slow our active lives.
May you know the gifts of Advent that find their fulfillment at Christmas and beyond.
Today we have a strange confluence of Church events. This morning we celebrate the Fourth Sunday of Advent when we normally prepare to wait a little longer for the celebration of the Incarnation. We have, however, by liturgical rules and the calendar, run out of days before December 24th – Christmas Eve – which ushers in what is never a moveable feast: Christmas Day! So perhaps we are brought up short in our spiritual preparation and need to step back to assess our readiness.
One might call the hymn “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” the theme song of Advent since it is sung throughout the season of Advent in almost any Christian Church. Perhaps not everyone knows all seven verses or that the lyrics come from these symbolic titles we have been considering for the past week. Today, however, we are in familiar territory. Many of us know that Emmanuel means “God with us.”
Plants are amazing metaphors, I think, for the seasons of our lives. I have only two green plants in my bedroom now and although I smile at them and greet them as I come and go, I am sometimes rather inattentive. Happily, I know they are both always willing to forgive me. One is a Christmas cactus that is not a great indicator of the coming feast as it tends to flower at Thanksgiving – or sometimes whenever the inclination to burst forth gets hold of it. This year, however, it seems to have heard the Advent cry of “Come!” and, although with only one bud, is right on schedule to flower around – if not on – the actual feast of Christmas. I am always surprised at the budding and never mind whether or not it skips a year or comes unexpectedly because it is strong and requires very little care. Steadfastness is its gift to me.
There’s a subtle shift for me today in the Advent theme. Perhaps it will only last until tomorrow but the message of anticipatory waiting is given an additional push from the gospel acclamation – in a rather unusual way. After the psalm I read: Alleluia, alleluia. The Lord will come; go out to meet him! He is the prince of peace. Alleluia, alleluia.
Three times in the readings for this second Sunday of Advent we hear the call to “Prepare the way of the Lord!” We are accustomed to this directive but I always question how it is that we are preparing. Is the rush to Christmas shopping the way? The thought of gift-giving is certainly part of the thinking about that activity but it has become such a frenzy in our culture that I wonder how many of us stop to think about the genesis of the custom. Here are some questions for us – me included – for today’s reflection about preparing.
Today I sit staring at a blank page, feeling a bit empty, as happens sometimes on the Monday after an important holiday. While I was not counted in the millions of people who took to the road or the sky over the weekend to be with faraway relatives or friends (the return trip perhaps not concluded yet), the Thanksgiving holiday just concluded seemed to me to hold more energy than usual in the wishes of “Happy Thanksgiving!” shared sincerely among friends and strangers alike. Maybe we needed some distraction from all the distress of our country and the world that made us try harder to find the joy of sharing. Maybe it was just the slowing down and relaxing together that pervaded our household. Whatever the source, I feel the need to regroup today so that I will live consciously throughout the wonderful season of Advent leading to Christmas. As the world turns from another beginning to a conclusion marked by the calendar of feasting and celebrations, I am heartened and challenged by Thomas Merton’s words to wake up and get about this new day.
The prophet Isaiah has had a lot to say during the season of Advent and today, when Christians celebrate the feast of the Nativity of Jesus the Christ, there are four different possibilities from the Roman Catholic lectionary for reflection on those prophecies. Whether from the vigil Mass, the Mass during the night, at dawn or during the day today, this prolific book of the Hebrew Scriptures is a call to attention, recognition and renewal in God’s love. My favorite is always IS 9:1-6, which speaks of the light seen by the people who have been walking in darkness. I should remember to read it more often for the sheer poetry of it. This morning two things stand out.
Tonight there will be candles lit all over the world in celebration of light. In a wonderful coincidence (a happening of two things at once) not only will Christians celebrate the birth of the Christ beginning with vigil services in the evening, Midnight Mass, and/or celebrations tomorrow throughout the morning, but this year will also see tonight the lighting of the first candles as Jewish families and congregations begin the eight days of Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, celebrating the dedication of the temple in Jerusalem.