Rector’s Reflections Tuesday 21st November 2023
Preparing for Advent
We have made a discovery! It turns out that there has been an unfortunate software issue with our email distribution lists, which has meant that people have n’t actually been receiving the Rector’s Reflections. Sincere apologies for this. We have now solved the software issue (fingers-crossed!). In the circumstances I have thought it best to leave off the series on Psalm 68 and start afresh. I have chosen the subject of preparing for Advent.
At present, the Church fixes the start of Advent on the Sunday nearest the feast of St Andrew, which is always on 30th November. This means that this year Advent Sunday will fall on 3rd December. Why does the Church have this rule? It is because the current understanding of Advent is that it should last for at least 4 weeks, in order to provide a sufficient time of preparation before the celebration of the Nativity on 25th December. However, centuries ago the period of preparation could be longer, and some people today observe what is sometimes called the Celtic Advent. This is based on the idea of a 40 day period of preparation, to match the traditional 40 days of Lent. If you choose to observe the Celtic Advent, you will see that this drives the start of Advent back to a date around about the middle of November.
But whenever we choose to start the season of Advent, the key thing is to remember the purpose of the season. It is a time of spiritual preparation.
Well, that is all very well, but spiritual preparation for what? There are two answers to this question. The first is that it is spiritual preparation for the celebration of Jesus’ birth on 25th December. It is a time to look again at the traditional Christmas readings from the Old and New Testaments, to sing the familiar carols, and to wonder at the miracle of the Incarnation. But there’s another aspect to this period of spiritual preparation. Historically, it is a season which focusses on both Comings of Jesus: his first coming, in his birth at Bethlehem, and his Second Coming, when at some time in the future Jesus will return to earth, “to judge the living the dead”. So our spiritual preparation needs to prepare us not only for the joys of Christmas, but also for the challenges of the Second Coming.
What might this mean in practice? Does the traditional doctrine of the Second Coming make any sense to us today? We will explore these questions, and others, in the days ahead.
- Father Jason