Advent and My Ministry
When I think of Christmas and how it shapes my spirituality and ministry, I find it helpful to take a step back and see Christmas in the larger scope of the year. American media and the consumer culture tend to jump from Thanksgiving to the Christmas season without any consideration for Advent. In fact, Thanksgiving has had to push hard these past few years to maintain its character as a holiday. However, when we acknowledge distinctive times of the year, such as Advent, and embrace the liturgy of each season, we find a richness of prayer that helps us better enjoy the Christmas season for what it really is: the celebration of our God’s entrance to the world as one like us.
Being at Blackfriars Hall in Oxford, England, has helped me appreciate Advent all the more. For the past couple of weeks, friars have talked about Advent Vespers and Caroling. At first, I could not put the two together in my head. I have certainly experienced both. However, I expected some untimely mix of Advent prayer and Christmas songs. Nothing could have been further from the truth.
In between the psalms, the friars and our guests sang beautiful hymns based on the texts of Isaiah and stories of John the Baptist. Each hymn sounded more solemn than Christmas carols I have learned, but just as joyful. Towards the end, the deacon proclaimed the prologue to John’s Gospel, announcing the Word of God coming into the world. The entire event fostered an atmosphere of expectation and excitement. But, we never moved into a Christmas theme. We let the liturgy of Advent have its proper place in our spiritual lives.
As a result, I left our chapel with a renewed sense of enthusiasm for the coming season, but not a feeling that Christmas had come too soon. We are still a community in Advent. We look forward to our celebrations growing more solemn as the days progress.
When I meditate in Advent, it serves as a liturgical moment just before dawn, when all of creation is looking east for the sun to rise. Ultimately, this spiritual awareness of Advent helps me understand and preach Christ’s second coming as well as his first. Rather than focusing on anxiety, doubt, or fear of not being ready, I focus my prayer and preaching on what our lives really are: a long season of Advent in which we prepare ourselves to welcome Christ with the same joy we experience each Christmas.
