Friday

Advent, Moving From Darkness to Light

This Sunday marks the beginning of the season of Advent, in our preparation for the coming of the Lord Jesus. The word 'Adventus,' in Latin, means a coming. Our faith is all about Christ and therefore we begin with His birth, His entrance into the world.

In many ways Advent is a time for renewal or a new beginning. We begin a new liturgical year, and begin once again, our never-ending quest to find our Lord Jesus Christ within our hearts.

Advent is also a time of watchfulness and waiting. We watch and wait for Him to come, that we might pass from our life of darkness into the life of light. The symbol of light is reflective of this Advent and Christmas season. This concept of light, being strongly associated with this time of the year, is not a Christian invention.

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The choice to celebrate Christ’s birth on December 25th was made as early as the year 273. This was the date for the pagan (Roman) celebration of "natalis solis invicti," the birth of the unconquered sun. The celebration of Christmas on the same date "Christianised" the ancient Roman feast of light.

During the darkest days of the year, where the days are short and cold, we long for the warmth of Spring, where life renews and once again becomes vibrant.

Advent is also a time for self-examination and asking for forgiveness, as we prepare for Christ’s Second Coming, even as we prepare for Christmas. This is why the colour of the season is purple, (or sometimes blue), which is used for marking Lent, the season of self-examination preceding Easter.

The third week in Advent is set aside as more celebratory than the others. Rose is the colour of this week rather than purple, to mark the week, which is why a rose candle is used in Advent wreaths.

Advent, then, is a time of beginning, a time of watching, a time of light. It is a time for the decorations to begin. The lights of our Christmas trees, cribs, and other decorations sign The Coming, the birth of Christ, the Light of the Father, the Light of the World. He comes to light our path, the path to peace and justice, love and happiness.

The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Romans, tells us "the night is advanced, the days are at hand. Let us throw off the works of darkness and put on the armour of light."

Yes, He is coming indeed!
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When Morning Dawns

There is the story of a young student who went to his rabbi with a question. ‘Rabbi,’ he asked, ‘how can we tell exactly the moment when night has ended and day has begun? Is it when it's so light that we can no longer see the stars in the sky?’

‘No, my son,’ said the rabbi. ‘That is not how we tell that night is ended and the day has begun.’

‘Then how can we tell?’ asked the boy.

The rabbi spoke softly: ‘We know that night has ended and day has begun when we look into the face of the stranger next to us and recognise he is our brother.’

With God there is no night but only day. For when God looks at you and me He always sees a much cherished child and never a stranger. There is nothing in us — nothing about us — that God does not see, and yet even on our worst days, God's attitude towards us — what He really thinks about us — never changes: ‘You are my dear boy, my dear girl,’ He says. ‘I love you, I'll never give up on you, and I’ll never call you a stranger.’

For those of us who have come face to face with our frailties and have seen and named our sinfulness, those words of the Lord are both comfort and healing, ‘you are my dear boy, my dear girl, and I'll never give up on you.’

But those words are more than comfort and healing for us. They are also God's mandate to us. God, in His gracious hospitality, has welcomed every single one of us inside the circle of His love and left no one outside. He is asking us to do the same. He is asking us to make the habit of hospitality the foundation of our lives. ‘As I have welcomed you into my life,’ He's saying, ‘so must you welcome one another and call no one stranger.’

How different every part of our lives could be if we refused to label anyone as ‘stranger.’ How different the way we'd drive and do business and even celebrate this liturgy. How different life could be if we said inside our heads, ‘I don't know her name, I don't know who he is--and I probably never will--but I do know she's my sister, and he's my brother. And I cannot call them strangers. I cannot fail to value them.’ How different life would be!

So let us pray for one another, no matter what our culture, or nationality, or political affiliation, or disability, or gender. Let us all be one in His name.

Heavenly Father, grant that the darkness will end for us all. In Your light may we look upon one another's faces and see there only brothers and sisters, always cherished as one family. Amen

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Saturday

 

Preparing For Christmas

It's a reality that so many people spend a majority of their time preparing for Christmas by trying to find the right presents. Searching, buying, hiding, wrapping, are the main activities in the build-up to Christmas Day, and something that closely resembles panic sets in when, as seems to happen even with the best laid plans, these tasks are all squeezed into the few days before, or even into Christmas Eve. I too share some guilt in this. My first inclination would be to blame my heavy calendar. However, the truth is I'm hopelessly disorganised when it comes to trying to decide what I want to give to whom.

It seems important to give the right gift, and yet as the wonderfully acerbic poet John Betjeman memorably puts it in his famous poem 'Christmas,' we often end up giving or getting 'bath salts and inexpensive scent and hideous tie so kindly meant.'

Betjeman isn't meaning to dismiss these humble gifts, however. His point is that the inadequacy of the things we give at Christmas does not matter, because no gift could possibly compare with 'this most tremendous tale of all,' the gift of love eternal in a recognizably vulnerable human form.

And yet, it still seems true that we all want our gifts to be valued and remembered. Though Betjeman is right to think that no gift of ours stands in comparison with God's gift, the desire that our gifts have meaning behind them has a good theological basis as well. Giving is a way of putting ones self aside and making others matter. I choose the gift and pay for it, but what I choose and how much I pay is decided by your wants and needs. The right gift will always reveal our knowledge of the person who receives it.

And so it is with the Incarnation itself. It is a great mystery how the divine could become human, but however we understand it, it is essential to see that at its heart is God's setting aside His divine nature in order to enter fully into the humanity of His creatures.
 
Let us continue our advent journey thinking about those who are living in darkness. They may be on the other side of the world from us, or right next door. There are many reasons for walking in darkness - fear, loneliness, oppression, depression, poverty, or violence.  God sees those in darkness and becomes light for them.
 
Lord, we name before you those we know who are going through times of darkness. We think of them and ask, gracious God, that You may bring them light, hope, love and direction. In Christ's name, Amen