RBWords - Volume 23 - Number 11: November 2010
Something to Think About
I am a bit late with this issue of RBWORDS because I was up in Amarillo, TX, to preach an Advent parish mission. Advent is a good season for this kind of event because it can help a person to focus not only on the true meaning of the Christmas season ahead, but also to focus on Advent itself, which can get lost in all the secular pleading to save the American economy by spending more and more! “Black Friday” and “Cyber Monday” are becoming dangerous to the health of some individuals and lethal to at least one poor man who was trampled to death at a store on “Black Friday.”
Advent is filled with symbols of hope which come to us from the Old Testament. Some churches put out an Advent Wreath with its four candles. This calls attention to Isaiah’s plea: “O House of Jacob, come! Let us walk in the light of the Lord.” Others set up what is called a “Jesse Tree” on which are hung symbols of the Old Testament descriptions of the Messiah: “Root of Jesse, Key of David, etc.” We celebrate these symbols in the hymn that can get a bit tiresome from overuse in this season: “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” In the Liturgy of the Hours, these symbols are celebrated at Evening Prayer on the eight days before the Birth of the Lord!
Our awareness of this season should also alert us to its challenges. Those of us who work in ministry know how difficult this season is for some people – more than the usual frantic things. Personal problems are magnified: first Christmas without a loved one who died during the past year, a job loss, a serious illness, an academic disappointment, a son or daughter in the combat zones of our many wars, no place to live or eat or celebrate anything! This list is by no means complete! For many, this season becomes a season of depression and false cheeriness makes it worse. All the more reason we should do what we can to inspire hope both on the level of liturgy and practical charity. For example, when we take out the “crib set” and get ready to put it together, perhaps the whole family can join in it by each bringing one or more figurines and putting them in place while a song is sung or a blessing given. At the same time the family could find some way to assist at a shelter for the homeless. That’s just one suggestion. I’m sure creative minds can find others.
If you have an Advent wreath, make a ceremony of it to remind yourself of the season of hope and expectation. Perhaps we could change our way of speaking by saying on Christmas Day: CHRIST IS BORN! before we say, “Merry Christmas.” IT’S SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
It Has Been Said
“The one whom God has chosen for the conception of His Son is one who has already enjoyed His grace by the way she has lived. Her discipleship…..comes into being when she says yes to God’s will about Jesus; but such readiness is possible for her because by God’s grace she has said yes to Him before. Thus Mary’s discipleship does not exhibit conversion but consistency. The same may be true for many of us at those unique moments when we are conscious of being invited to say yes to God’s will in something important.”
From A COMING CHRIST IN ADVENT by Raymond E. Brown, S.S.