It’s a brand new Liturgical year in the
denominations using the Revised Common Lectionary [RCL]. In the RCL we have a
schedule of 4 readings appointed for each Sunday in the Liturgical/Church year,
and for the 2-year Daily Lectionary. We use an Old Testament reading, a Psalm,
an Epistle, and a Gospel specific to a liturgical season of the year. Last
Sunday we completed the appointed readings for Year C in the three-year Sunday
cycle and begin again now with Year A.
The name of our new season, Advent, comes from
the Latin “adventus” which means coming, and that derives
from the Greek parousia [pah-roo-see-ah] which is a
term used for the Second Coming of Christ. Advent is a season of
preparation for the Nativity [birth] of Jesus through repentance and
joyful expectation. We have the festive tradition of lighting the Advent wreath
each Sunday, familiar seasonal hymns, and reminders through the appointed Scriptures
to revisit our sense of our Christian selves and what that calls
us to be and to do in this life.
In a series of booklets for group study
called Bridges to Contemplative Living with Thomas Merton, editors
Jonathan Montaldo and Robert G. Toth, writing in the Advent and
Christmas volume, say that Advent disposes us to
conversion. Conversion? That's a term, a thought, a
sensation which often makes more than a few of us who were born into
Christianity uncomfortable. After all, I don’t need to be converted if I
already believe in Jesus – or, do I? Montaldo and Toth say further that Advent is a
time for judging the choices we make for living our lives. This season
is a ritual moment for confronting discomforting truths. It
catches us in the act of living unconnected from the Gospel... It
would appear that a little refreshment of what conversion means is in order.
The Trappist Monk, author, and mystic Thomas
Merton, said, We are numbered in the billions and massed
together...worked to the point of insensibility, dazed by information, drugged
by entertainment, surfeited with everything...there is no room for thought.
There is no room for attention, for the awareness of our state... What
would Merton, who died in 1968, think of the excess and indulgences of this day
and age, the addiction to smart phones and social media, 24 hours of non-stop,
never-ending everything?! It all speaks to me of being exiled in a wilderness
of plenty where too much is still not enough and we are unexpectedly
unconscious of all that we have and all that we are, or, are not. And then
there are those we think of as lesser beings because of unstable living
conditions, food insecurity, laid off from employment, foreign accents,
differing skin color, with disabilities of body or mind, addiction, and more.
In this Advent, now is the moment to wake and
discover the faith choices we have yet to make NOW, for as Jesus
reminds us that day and hour no one knows...Therefore you must also be
ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour. As Paul
reminds us in this week's excerpt from the Letter to the Romans,
“Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light…live
honorably…” With Christ as our armor of light, hope is more
than fantasy. Hope shines on the path ahead and propels us toward the House of
God.
It’s time for a fresh AWAKEning ~ get
busy, prepare yourself. BE WOKE! Jesus is coming!
LET US, GOD’S
PEOPLE, PRAY
Leader: ~ O Lord our God, jolt us awake from mindless
contentedness and expose us to ourselves in our self-imposed wilderness of
plenty. Set us on a conscious and urgent quest for Christ’s Salvation,
expecting that in an unknown hour, we will be called to answer for the paths we
choose, or ignore, in this life.
Jesus, Son of Man
Grant us Your Armor of Light
~ O Lord
our God, awaken and restore goodness to the souls of those who do evil in this
world, and prod all leaders of this Planet, globally and locally, into the
dignity and decency necessary to govern for and prosper all. We
pray especially for: add your own petitions
Jesus, Son of Man
Grant us Your Armor of Light
~ O Lord
our God, grant peace and quietness to all in chronic pain of body, mind, or
spirit, and renew the strength of those who provide support. We now join our hearts
to pray for those in need… add your own petitions
Jesus, Son of Man
Grant us Your Armor of Light
~ O Lord
our God, as our own salvation is nearer to us each moment, we rejoice for those
now on the highest mountain, inside the gates of Your House, in glory forever.
We pray especially for… add your own petitions
Jesus, Son of Man
Grant us Your Armor of Light
~O Lord our God, we pause in this moment to offer You our other heartfelt
thanksgivings, intercessions, petitions, and memorials, aloud or silently… add
your own petitions
Jesus, Son of Man
Grant us Your Armor of Light
~O Lord our God, inspire and refresh our
Pastoral Guides as they teach us to transform this temporal life through
Christ’s eternal Gospel. We pray especially for: add your own petitions
Jesus,
Son of Man
Grant
us Your Armor of Light
The Celebrant adds: O
Come, O Come, Emmanuel, excite our souls as we begin again to prepare
ourselves for Your Kingdom. Make us ready to transform weapons of dominance
into implements of peace, to confront ourselves in repentance, and experience
the joy of conversion anew. We ask through the Holy Spirit, our Wisdom; and the
Lord, the God of Jacob, who
together with You are the One Eternal God, now and forever. Amen.
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