Tag Archives: advent

19 December 2011

The Fourth Sunday of Advent 2011

By Nicki

I have been trying to post some Advent reflections the day after each Sunday in the liturgical season. Sometimes these thoughts come from memories of years past – as the first piece did – and sometimes from what I have  heard in readings and  homilies at church – like this one does.

 

The final Gospel reading of Advent – at least of a Sunday in the season – goes to Mary. While the reading is very similar to what is heard on December 8th – the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, the homily yesterday took me in a different direction. I heard of a young girl answering a call. I heard of a young girl giving up her own destiny for that vision that God saw for her. I heard of a young girl setting an example for her peers and for us.

 

Think about what it takes as a teen to follow God and let people know you do. I have seen plenty of examples this past weekend as I went Christmas caroling with teens and families from my church on Saturday evening. Then, on Sunday, I witnessed a living nativity. The teens play-acted the story of Mary and Joseph and the birth of Jesus.  You can see or hear of both by following the various links below.

Church Web Site Recap of Caroling

WICZ Coverage of Caroling

WICZ Coverage of Living Nativity

WBNG Coverage of Living Nativity

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16 December 2011

Third Sunday in Advent

By Nicki

This is a third post in a series on Advent thoughts. It is getting posted much later than the first two but here you go.

The third Sunday in Advent is Gaudet – the root meaning is rejoice – Sunday. Many reasons are available for rejoicing on this third Sunday in Advent. John is baptizing people in the River Jordan. He is proclaiming that one greater than he will come and baptize in the Lord, not in water. One will come that John is not fit to untie the sandals He wears.

When I sit in church and hear the readings of Advent, I immediately go the musical “Godspell.” Many of the songs that come to my mind come from that show. “Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord” is probably the one that plays over and over in my mind.

While we are an Easter people – living in the belief of the Risen Christ, we are joyful to celebrate the first coming of Christ, as a baby to a young woman who conceived the child out of wedlock. We celebrate that a baby will lead us as we sit around our trees this December.

Let the joy that comes with knowing that Christ will come again and that He came that first time well out of you this Advent season!

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5 December 2011

Light

By Nicki

 

It is almost the shortest day of the year. Light is becoming less prevalent and you are probably thinking that I am a crazy person for wanting to write about light. Guess what? I may be a bit crazy but light is the one thing we all celebrate and want, particularly here in the Northern Hemisphere, during the winter months.

A few years back – my youngest is now a senior in high school and this was when he was in 3rd grade – I volunteered to go into his class for the winter holiday party. Elementary schools these days are very politically correct, even if the students do not understand what this is, so as to keep all the parents happy. I knew I could not go into this class and play a game that might be Christian or might be Jewish. I had to come up with something that was neutral. What did I decide to do? I decided, since they had spent time at the beginning of the month learning about holiday traditions in various countries, to play BINGO. Instead of the word BINGO across the top of the board, I looked for a five letter word that was holiday geared. LIGHT! That is what I came up with because think of all the country’s holiday traditions – and all the religions of the world whose traditions – involve light.
Christianity celebrates the birth of Jesus. This birth of the King was announced by a star in the sky – a light. Judaism celebrates Hanukkah – the time when there was not enough oil for the light in the temple yet the lights burned for eight days. Kwanzaa is a cultural celebration that celebrates family, community and culture. The Mishumaa Saba are the seven candles where each signifies a different principle. Candles equal light.

When we look to European traditions, I remember studying the Feast of Saint Lucia when I was young. In Sweden, Saint Lucia visits children with a crown of candles on her head. Again, there is light in this tradition.

So as we journey slowly towards the shortest day of the calendar year, remember that light is important. Light is what we all celebrate this time of year. Light is what we all seek this time of year. We want the days to get longer, the sun to shine bright and longer. We want light.

This is a second post in a series of four dealing with my thoughts on the Advent season. This particular post was updated from one posted last year on www.sarahstanleyinspired.com.

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28 November 2011

Advent Thoughts

By Nicki

This is the first in a series of four posts on the liturgical season of Advent.

 

Yesterday began the Advent season in the Roman Catholic church. Growing up I was not Catholic but Episcopalian so I am use to Advent as a liturgical season but many people do not recognize this period of waiting for Christ to be born.

In the church, there are two periods of waiting and anticipation. Advent is the first as the new church year begins with Advent. Lent is the other and is the anticipation of Christ rising. Back to Advent.

As I do on most first Advent Sundays, I looked for two items. The first is for me, personally. Many years ago I bought a copy of a book that is meant to be read throughout Advent. I bought it closer to Christmas that first year. I packed it away , not thinking I could read from that date forward. The next time I brought it out during Advent was in 2001.

Advent of 2001 was a prayerful time for me. I was concerned as three of my children were flying in December. They were headed to a Catholic youth conference that had been scheduled for a month earlier but postponed, cancellation was a possibility, because of the attacks on New York and Washington in September. This national conference was in Indianapolis this year and would draw over 30,000 Catholic teens from around the US. Many in charge thought it would be a perfect target for additional attacks. I was just worried about plane travel at that point in time.

I knew that this trip, if it happened, was a pray and let it go to God trip. Nothing I did as a mother or an adult was going to make a difference in the experience or the outcome. So I took my kids to the airport and did just that – prayed and let it go to God.

Ten years later I still remember pulling out Anders’ book every morning the kids were gone and reading and praying for all those who were in attendance – the teens, their chaperones, the priests, those who would get them there and back safely.

1 comment   |  tags: , | posted in Family, Just my Thoughts

29 November 2010

Advent

By Nicki

Yesterday, I awoke and made some cookies for a friend at church.  I looked around my home to find where I had stashed the Advent wreath from last year’s clean up after the holidays.  I, then, came to my blog to attach two pages back to the blog.  Both of these pages had been private during the year but now it is Advent so they are live again.

 

Advent is a season in the church  year.  Remember here I am Catholic but was not brought up Roman Catholic.  I have only been Catholic for 27 years.  I was, though, raised in the Anglican church which also celebrates Advent.  The Advent season is the four Sundays prior to Christmas and is the beginning of a new church year.  Isn’t it wonderful to start off the church year with a season of anticipation and waiting for the celebration of a wonderful event – the birth of Christ?

 

Similar to the weeks of Lent, Advent is a season of waiting and a season where sacrifice can be practice.  Do we have to practice sacrifice during this holiday season?  Isn’t the last month of a pregnancy normally a time of nesting and anticipation?  I like to think of the sacrifices that we make during Advent as different than the almost penance-like sacrifices of Lent.  In Advent, we may reach out to our neighbors more.  We may help the elderly or those who do not have enough by using some of our wealth to allow them to celebrate Christmas.

 

I spend, and have for 20 plus years now, the Advent season following a book called Awaiting the Child. Isabel Anders has provided daily devotions to help us slow down during the Advent season.  I was brought back to this concept in church today as the homily discussed taking time to enjoy the season and the anticipation of what is to come.

2 comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Book Reviews, Family, Just my Thoughts, Religion

29 November 2009

Waiting

By Nicki

I have been thinking about waiting lately for many reasons.  My friend Steve blogged about Robert Heinlein’s book Stranger in a Strange Land in an entry entitled “Waiting Is .” In Heinlein’s book, the phrase “waiting is” was used to help one understand that waiting was necessary to come to full understanding with one another.

Another reason for having waiting on my mind is because I am learning to wait, to be patient, again in my life.  I have a lot of things going on and I, as is the case with most of us, want it NOW.  I know this is not going to happen but I should be better experienced at waiting, at patience, but  I am not.

Today is the start of the Advent season in the Roman Catholic church.  Advent is the four weeks prior to Christmas – the four Sundays.  Advent is a season of preparation and of waiting, of anticipation.  Many years ago I bought a book by an author who is expecting her first child and is the wife of an Episcopal priest.  Awaiting the Child:  An Advent Journal is written by Isabel Anders, with a forward by Madeleine L’Engle.

As I pick it up each year to follow the readings through the days of Advent, I am struck by how fast our world spins.  In the times of Mary and Joseph and Jesus, the world was a slower, simpler place.

We are called to listen.  We are called to wait in anticipation for the joy that is to come on Christmas Day.  I will, probably regularly, refer to the daily items I read in this book for the next four weeks.  Please slow down.  Enjoy your life, your family.  Wait on the miracle that is to come.

5 comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Just my Thoughts, Religion

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