The Season of Advent: Week One
By the Rev. William Davidson
Reprinted courtesy of News from St. Paul’s Episcopal Church – Wells, Vermont
The Season of Advent is the beginning of the Church year for Christians. It consists of the four weeks prior to Christmas. But it is not easy to observe, since our culture insists on celebrating Christmas as a “holiday season” that begins before Thanksgiving and ends on Christmas Eve! But with recent events in both our national life and on the world’s stage, the readings from Scripture and the words of our Liturgy may have added significance for us this Advent. On the first Sunday of Advent the Prophet Isaiah announces that “Nation will not lift up sword against nation; there will be no more training for war.” More than ever we can connect with the longing for peace and sanity that these words conveyed to the Israelites that first heard them. We can see more clearly that the birth of Jesus is the beginning of the decisive answer to the age-old cry for a new way to live with one another. May these days before Christmas bring us a renewed sense of the presence of Christ, who came to us once long ago, who comes to us each day of our lives, and who will come again to make all things new.
During Advent the children of St. Paul’s-Wells will be collecting donations for the Gifts for Life project of Episcopal Relief & Development. Funds go to provide farm animals, water purification, reforestation, and care for mothers and newborns in some of the most desperate regions of the world. Visit St. Paul’s on Facebook.