In her concern for our salvation, our loving mother the Church uses this holy season to teach us through hymns, canticles and other forms of expression, of voice or ritual, used by the Holy Spirit. She shows us how grateful we should be for so great a blessing, and how to gain its benefit: our hearts should be as much prepared for the coming of Christ as if He were still to come into this world.St. Charles Borromeo, from the Office of Readings for the First Monday in Advent
I love Advent. It's probably my favorite season of the year, although I might change my mind when Lent rolls around. I love my advent wreath and my new dark purple tablecloth. I have spent years and years and years unto years searching for one that was just this shade of purple. I love switching from Volume IV of the Liturgy of the Hours to Volume I, pulling my extra-special ribbons (because there are eight and eight is what you really need) out of Ordinary Time, weeks 18-34, and arranging them in Advent and Christmas. I love playing my Advent CD in the car and singing. I love pulling my purple sweater out of the drawer where I stuffed it in disgust on Holy Saturday. I love the new round Liturgical Calendar in my PRE room. I love teaching the kids in my class about the "hymns, canticles and other forms of expression, of voice or ritual" that the Holy Spirit uses to inspire us in Advent. I love waiting in Joyful Hope for the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I just love the whole thing.
To aid me in my Advent meditations this year I have, as I mentioned yesterday, Caryll Houselander's Reed of God, which I am reading for the second time this year, and Ronald Thomas's (husband of Sally) Prepare Ye the Way. That's the book that's standing up on my bookshelf so you can see the cover. I was very anxious to get Ron's book in time to have it on the first day, and then I was so busy that I didn't even open it until this morning. This seems to be the way with all my Advent plans this year, so I'm just waiting in joyful hope to see what else happens (although yesterday I wasn't so joyful).
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Today is the feast of St. Francis Xavier, one of the first Jesuits, and missionary to Asia. After his meditation on St. Francis today, Ron Thomas offers this prayer, "St. Francis Xavier, pray for us, that we who live in a culture where the Gospel is everywhere present, but seldom believed and lived, may see it take root through the Catholic Faith!" Everywhere present, but seldom believed and lived--this contrast never really stood out for me so much as when I read this. The evidence of Christianity really is almost inescapable in our country, and yet it's true import is most often overlooked. May St. Francis pray for us all today.
By the way, the title of this post is the antiphon that we will be using with the Invitatory Psalm from now until December 16, or is it the 17th? I don't have my breviary handy.
AMDG
Again, I am very grateful.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mary.
ReplyDeleteAMDG
Very good. That is a good way of describing the situation (the quote from Ron Thomas's book). More and more people seem to despise Christianity, too.
ReplyDeleteEither those books are really tiny or that's the biggest paper clip I've ever seen.
That is the paper clip that holds my extra-special ribbons. You loop the ribbons around the paper clip and then stick the paper clip on the spine of the book, or preferably, the cover of the book. They used to make one that was about half that size, which was much better. I have found a new method now that won't harm the book at all and should I ever be able to afford the new translation which may or may not be published before I die, I will use the new method. Or maybe by then, they will figure out that you need eight ribbons.
ReplyDeleteAMDG
I love Advent too. Like Lent, it has that sense of anticipation that comes with preparation for something, but, unlike Lent, the thing-prepared-for is pure joy, with no valley of the shadow of death to get through first.
ReplyDeleteI like the way you put that. I've been in a conversation on another blog where someone objected to the phrase, "Happy Advent," because it's a penitential season, but I don't think that keeps it from being happy.
ReplyDeleteAMDG
I have taken to wishing people a "good Advent", which I think strikes a balance between being cheerful while not neglecting the deeper purpose of the season.
ReplyDeleteThat's good Craig. I think I'll go with that.
DeleteAMDG