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As a relative newcomer in the Episcopal Church, I'm not always sure why we do the things that we do. So with the Advent season upon us, I sat down with Vicki and Patrick to get a better idea of what Advent is all about. Advent, which means "coming" or "arrival", is the beginning of the church year. It's a season of anticipation of the coming of the Christ child and extends from the fourth Sunday before Christmas day to Christmas Eve. This year it begins on December 2nd. The anticipation of a newborn is certainly a happy thing, but in the case of the birth of the Messiah, that anticipation could be seen as both hopeful and fearful. As the oppressed prayed for the one who would "rescue captive Israel", as the Advent hymn says, the oppressors would feel more a sense of foreboding than joyful expectancy. As we celebrate Advent, we await the coming of Christ, both in his first coming as a human baby in our midst as well as his second coming. The second coming theme is reflected in the lectionary readings which speak of the end times. In Luke's gospel, Mary says, "He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty." We can see how Christ's advent can be seen as both a joyful and a sorrowful thing as we reflect on both our own spiritual poverty as well as our complicity in the perpetration of injustice. These two ideas of what the coming of the Lord means can be seen in the two choices of the seasons colors. Traditionally the church has used the same purple during Advent that it uses during Lent, symbolizing the penitential nature of the season. In the past, Advent has included fasting. In fact, the pink candle in the midst of three purple candles in the Advent wreath came to be used to symbolize the rejoicing that the fast was almost over. More recently, many churches have been using blue to emphasize the joyfully expectant nature of the season and to distinguish Advent from Lent. Blue has traditionally been associated with Mary, the expectant mother. Both purple and royal blue can symbolize the royalty of Christ. The blue and red dyes used to make these colors were the most expensive and purple especially became associated with wealth and royalty. Vicki has decided to continue using blue at St. Philip's for this year's Advent season. Advent is a good time to focus on how Christ's coming ushers in the redemption off the world rather than the frenzied consumerism of "black Friday at Walmart" as Vicki worded it. It is ironic that the event that inspired Mary's line "He has ... sent the rich away empty" has digressed in our culture into a focus on filling our lives with more stuff. Last year during Advent Madeira, my then three year old, expressed her frustration by exclaiming, "But mom, its hard to wait!" Many of us still need to cultivate the discipline of waiting nearly as much as she does. Observing Advent is a great way to do that. |
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Updated: 11/29/07 |
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