Have a Blessed Advent

By Thy first coming deign to justify,

And by Thy second deign to set us free… *

Even so, come Lord Jesus. **

May the past and future coming of the Lord Jesus Christ bring you hope and joy this Advent season . . . even this year . . . especially this year.

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*from the medieval Sarum Rite Sequence for the First Sunday in Advent, translated from the Latin by A. H. Pearson

**Revelation 22:20

Psalm 92 and God’s Providence (and a Needed Break)

I’ve oft marveled at how God knows what you are going to read or hear from the Bible, and he knows what you are going through, and he knows how to bring the two together to speak to you very personally. (I have to give a hat tip to Tommy Nelson of Denton Bible Church from whom I first heard this taught.  But I’ve experienced it virtually my whole life as a Christian.)

I experienced this again last night.  I was very angry off and on during the day due to the impeachment.  But during Ember Wednesday Evening Prayer at my church, the Psalm was Psalm 92.  It was the perfect scripture for me to hear. (Yes, God can use the Lectionary, too!) It reminded me that part of God’s infinite goodness is his justice even in the midst of great injustice. And his justice will prevail.  Yes, I read the imprecatory parts with some extra vigor. And it calmed me.  I needed that.

Still my anger during the day was unhealthy to say the least.  So early in the evening I decided to add to my Advent discipline that I am pulling back from politics until after Christmas Day.  That includes no politics on this blog at least until then.

I do apologize ahead of time that I think I must later blog on politics relevant to us Anglicans for reasons stated before.  But for now I need a break, and I suspect many of you all do, too.

May you have a blessed last week of Advent and a happy Christmas.

An Advent Reset

I am using this first week in Advent to do a bit of a reset. That I just traveled to visit my father for Thanksgiving week assists in that as traveling usually gives me a reset.

I guess I should explain what I mean by a “reset.” I, and I suspect most of us, tend to get in ruts.  Said ruts could be a lack of motivation, initiative, and creativity. There could be bad habits. Yes, I saw myself in more than one rut before my trip.

And this first week in Advent is ideal for me to reset and get out of those ruts.  I’ve just traveled and (after a lot of sleep after returning) I am refreshed. I got enough excess during Thanksgiving.  And Christmas excesses have not yet begun, at least not for me.   And this is the beginning of Advent after all.  It is a penitential season, you know, and therefore intended by God for resets.

Yes, Jesus instituted Advent.  I just know it is in those red letters in my Bible somewhere.

Anyway, I am making a point to fast until St. Nicholas Day and probably some more after. (I can’t fast on that happy day!) In addition to cutting several food and booze excesses, I am cutting out online chess as I’ve gotten addicted to that again.  Said addiction has ravaged my time management.  I’m not mentioning this fast to brag as it is so modest it is hardly bragworthy, but to illustrate there are very doable everyday ways to fast and reset this first week of Advent.

And after Thanksgiving and before the Christmas rush, I suspect most of us could do with a reset. Thanks be to God that the traditional church calendar, including the first week in Advent, provides opportunity for those.

The Sunday Next Before Advent and Ten Years

The Sunday Next Before Advent has always had a special place in my heart since I’ve become Anglican.  To me, “The Sunday Next Before Advent” just sounds Anglican.  More importantly, it means Advent is just about here.  In fact I am listening to Advent music as I type this.  Hey if the world pushes Christmas since before Halloween, I can begin celebrating Advent a week early.

As I was talking to a friend this past week, it occurred to me that it is ten years since I observed this Sunday in Oxford and at Pusey House.  That was a joyful Sunday for me indeed.

This post four years ago gives a good idea how much that Sunday and this Sunday means to me.  I hope it is special for you as well.

A Sermon on the Octave of All Saints

Today on this 23^rd Sunday after Trinity, which is also Octave of All Saints this year, I preached the following during Morning Prayer.

(Sorry I don’t have all the references up, and the formatting may not be perfect.  I am occupied with additional ministry this afternoon, but still wanted to get this posted quickly while it’s still All Saints.)

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With last Sunday being the Feast of All Saints, this Sunday is the Octave of All Saints.  One of the nice things about traditional Anglicanism is you can take just about any favorite Holy Day and celebrate it for a week!

And All Saints is a favorite holy day of mine.  One reason is that All Saints is a harbinger of my favorite church season of the year, Advent.  When the Feast of All Saints comes, Advent Sunday is only a very few weeks away.

But All Saints and Advent are not only close in our church calendar, but the celebration and liturgy of All Saints has themes that point to Advent, that point to the Second Coming of Christ, to the victory of Christ . . . and of his sharing his victory with his people, with all saints. 

You may remember that the Epistle Lesson for All Saints last Sunday was not from an epistle.  There are other holy days when that is the case, but it is unusual.  The Epistle Lesson came from Revelation, Chapter 7.  And of course the Revelation to John focuses on the end times and on the triumph of Christ at the end of history.  And it does so more than any other book of the Bible.  In chapter 7 last Sunday, we glimpsed the worship of God in Heaven by “a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and peoples, and tongues.”

And we saw the strong yet tender love of God for His people.  Because of His love,

They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.  For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

As our church year nears its end with Advent Sunday soon beginning the new church year, the assigned readings often point to Christ’s Second Advent.  For example, in our lectionary, beginning tomorrow the 2^nd Lessons for Evening Prayer begin going through the Book of Revelation. 

Now some may think it is still bit early to read from Revelation.  Reading the Revelation to John now this long before Advent season may seem akin to the enormity of putting up Christmas decorations now.  Well, such are correct about Christmas decorations.  But they would be mistaken concerning the Book of Revelation.  For Revelation has themes that are very relevant to both Advent and All Saints.  For the Revelation to John proclaims the final triumph of Christ AND of all his saints, which we shall see presently.

The 2^nd Lesson this morning of the 23^rd Sunday after Trinity is from Revelation 21 as you just heard.  And in this passage, we heard echoes of themes we heard a week ago on the Feast of All Saints in Revelation 7.  (For reference, the Second Coming of Christ is in chapter 19.)

Now, after the Second Coming, beginning with verse 3 in chapter 21:

And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.  And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.

And I can personally attest that last verse becomes more meaningful as one’s body becomes less new.

Those who have any familiarity with the Bible, and even many who don’t, know that the Book of Revelation focuses on the final triumph of God and of His Christ and on God’s judgement against an evil and corrupt World.  But what is easy to miss amidst the strange beasts, monstrous locusts, awful sores, earthquakes, and diverse disasters is that a recurring theme of the Apocalypse of John is the great extent all the saints, all the church get to enjoy and even participate in the triumph of God.

We begin to see glimpses of this theme in the letters of Christ to the Seven Churches in which the Lord Jesus makes wonderful promises to those who are faithful to the end.  The promise to the Church in Thyatira especially reflects that Christ will share his final triumph with his people:

The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, 27 and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. 28 And I will give him the morning star.

We know from scripture – Psalm 2 being perhaps the most famous example - that it is Messiah, the Christ, who shall rule the nations with a rod of iron.  Jesus here is clearly stating here that he will share even his authority with his faithful people.  We briefly revisit this subject later.

His promise to the Church in Philadelphia is also glorious:

The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.

How intimate, how personal this is that Jesus himself will write his “new name” on the faithful saints.

In chapter 7, we have already seen, in the Epistle Lesson on All Saints Day, the great multitude of all the saints participating in the worship around the throne of God in heaven.  And, yes, our service of Holy Communion reflects this worship.  But time does not permit us to go into that.  And we see God’s tender love for his triumphant saints.

In chapter 11, the worship of the 24 elders also reflect that the end times and the Book of Revelation are not only about judgement but about God blessing his faithful saints.  These 24 elders say in verse 18:

The nations raged,

                  But your wrath came,

                  and the time for the dead to be judged,

          and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints,

                  and those who fear your name,

                  both small and great…

And in Chapter 19 is the Marriage Supper of the Lamb which is usually interpreted as the marriage between Christ and his Church.

We could go if we had all day.  We haven’t even gotten to the Second Coming of Christ later in Chapter 19 – and there is a hint that the saints may get to participate in that as well. That old song When the Saints Go Marching In – there’s some good Bible behind that.  But there is so much more to the remaining chapters of Revelation.  22:3-5 about the eternal city of God is especially wonderful.  Take close note of the wording.

And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:  4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.  5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

“They” shall reign for ever and ever.  I find that “they” the most astounding pronoun in the Bible.  Christ will not only reign but He will have us reign with Him.  A whole sermon, nay a series of sermons, can be preached on that.  At the same time, what can we say to such things?

I will say that I am not ripping one pronoun out of context here.  We’ve seen Christ’s promise to the Church of Thyatira.  To the Church in Laodicea, Jesus promises that…

The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.

Astounding, is it not?  As St. Paul wrote to Timothy,

If we have died with him, we will also live with him.

If we endure, we will also reign with him.

But even with these wonderful verses, we have only scatched the surface of how the Revelation to John and the rest of scripture reveals to us the glory that Christ has stored up for his people, even how all his saints will get to participate in his triumph.

To use Biblical language, these things are “too wonderful” for us, are they not?  We cannot fully comprehend them.

And yet there is much we are not told.  St. Paul mentioned in 2 Corinthians 12 that in Heaven there are “unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.”  And in 1 Corinthians 2 he wrote, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”

The Collect for All Saints makes reference to these things in daring to mention “those unspeakable joys which thou hast prepared for those who unfeignedly love thee.”

My opinion is that one reason God is not telling us everything of how glorious Christ’s Second Advent will be for all the saints is because if He were to tell us everything we could not handle it.  We already see that some today do not handle responsibly what he has told us.  And back in the 1st Century, that was already a problem St. Paul found needful to address when he wrote the Thessalonians.

Still, what God has told us is wonderful indeed.  All Saints and Advent do indeed belong close together.  For out of the astounding grace of God, the triumph of Christ in his Advent will also be the triumph of all his saints.

But, in concluding, let us be frank.  As we walk day to day, with temptations surrounding us, and sometimes just weighed down by concerns and fatigue, it is not easy to be faithful.  And we know we cannot be faithful without God’s help.

But as we walk day by day, let us not look to the drudgery and temptation of today, but let us be encouraged and, yes, energized by looking to Jesus and by looking to the great glory that He has so graciously stored up in his Advent for all his faithful, for All Saints.

Amen

Collect for All Saints

O ALMIGHTY God, who hast knit together thine elect in one communion and fellowship, in the mystical body of thy Son Christ our Lord; Grant us grace so to follow thy blessed Saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those unspeakable joys which thou hast prepared for those who unfeignedly love thee; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Advice on Surviving Christmas

Sarah Hey, with her unique wry sense of humor, has offered some advice for those for whom Christmas is a difficult, even depressing time of year.  I particularly approve of the following:

Try to build a new season other than “Christmas” into your life, called “Advent”—a time of preparation by various acts, thoughts, words, and invitations for Jesus to take fuller Lordship and Friendship of your heart and mind and the entire self. This season of Advent allows you to build new traditions other than the ones you see on television or amongst friends—traditions like quiet days of reflection, time set aside for you to talk and be and listen to Jesus, worship, and so on and so forth.

I remember my dear Grandma used to get all into Christmas as soon as Thanksgiving was over.  I suspect she overdid it.  For each St. Stephens Day – if not Christmas afternoon – she would have an angry post-Christmas letdown, a fit really, which included throwing out the Christmas tree.  You could almost set a watch by it.

Many get completely burnt out on Christmas just as the real Christmas season begins.  I think skipping Advent contributes to that.

And if doing Advent and Christmas at a pace you can handle well means you give out gifts late, just let people know you are a twelve days of Christmas person.

Much of the tenor of Hey’s advice is that it is okay, perhaps necessary for some, not to do Christmas non-stop.  It’s okay to turn down parties, avoid the malls, etc.

I cannot recall ever having issues with Christmas although I certainly have had reason to due to difficult past family events.  Heck, I get insufferably Christmasy by St. Nicholas Day, if not before.  But I did for some years in my twenties and thirties have issues with Mother’s Day.  When I went to church, it was Mother’s Day this and Mother’s Day that (Slightly idolatrous in hindsight.). And I could hardly escape Mother’s Day after church as finding a table for my customary lunch was difficult at best.  I recall even a place where I was a regular patron booting me from a small table!

Mother’s Day reminded me again and again how single I was and how much I was not experiencing family.  It made me feel very much left out.

So I began avoiding it all by vacationing on Mother’s Day weekend (including no church).  And I thoroughly enjoyed those vacations and was recharged instead of dragged down.

I’m fine with Mother’s Day now.  But I still very much understand why withdrawing a bit from some holidays may be advisable for some.  Although I am now quite attached to the church calendar, to paraphrase Jesus, it was made for man, and not man for it.  And, besides, the very early church had just one big celebration each year, the Pascha.

So if you need to deemphasize Christmas this year, it’s okay.  Do feel free to do so.  Some may not understand, but rest assured that many do . . . and that God does.

I REFUSE to make merchandise of Christmas to sell my novel!

A hamburger joint I (still) like put up Christmas decorations the day after Halloween.  Santa has been in the mall for two weeks already.  Heck, the old sell-out is now busy selling cars during football games.

Enough!  It is time to take a stand for the sanctity of Christmas and of blessed St. Nicholas!  I am trying to sell my novel Pilot Point, but I refuse to make merchandise of Christmas and of St. Nicholas to do so!

However, for your Advent gift giving needs (And most so-called Christmas gifts are really given during Advent because most lack the self-control to actually wait until the Christmas season . . . which begins on Christmas Eve when a chorister at Kings College sings “Once in Royal David’s City” and don’t you forget it.), may I suggest Pilot Point?

With the Kindle version only $2.99 and the paperback only $13.41 now at Amazon, it is an excellent gift to give for those on a budget.  And with themes of loss and belonging and of God entering lives in his providential timing, it is a thoughtful gift for . . . this time of year and any time.

And if there are any Texans or Anglicans on your list, how many Texas novels have an Anglican flavor to them?

Plus I will not hijack St. Nicholas to hawk my novel.  He asked, but I told him he has enough to do already.  But I did ask him to like Pilot Point on Facebook.

The God Who Visits Us (a meditation from the Gospel for Trinity 16)

You never know what detail of liturgy and worship is going to impress itself upon you.  This past Sunday, the 16^th Sunday after Trinity, it was the conclusion of the Gospel from Luke 7 after Jesus raised the widow’s son from the dead at the gates of Nain:

And they glorified God, saying . . . God hath visited his people.

And in the remainder of the service and since then, it has occurred to me how in manifold ways, God visits his people: in the Incarnation and first and second Advents of Christ, in Christ being present in the Holy Communion, wherever two or three are gathered in his name, in numerous episodes recorded in the Bible and in numerous answers to prayer today, and more.

We tend to think God’s default relation to us is very distant.  But really his default relation to us is very present, as in the Garden of Eden when he was “walking in the garden” to converse with the first people and in his coming kingdom in which “the dwelling place of God is with man.” (Rev. 21:3)  This present fallen world in which God seems distant is the aberration – an aberration to be done away.

But even during this temporary distorted time of this fallen world, God remains the same – He is the God who visits us, the God who is “very present” as Psalm 46 reminds us:

The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.

About the Collect for the 2nd Sunday in Advent

First I should say that I downright revere Thomas Cranmer’s Book of Common Prayer.  Long time readers remember that traditional Anglican liturgy was key in luring me to Anglicanism.  And I think his collect for the 2^nd Sunday in Advent, an original composition by Cranmer, is an excellent one.  For those who don’t have a BCP handy it reads:

BLESSED Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning; Grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace, and ever hold fast, the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou hast given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ.  Amen.  

But (And now I may have to duck.) I wish Cranmer had not made this a collect in Advent.  Yes, my wish is “a fond thing,” admittedly pointless.  Nevertheless, I think a collect more directly related to Christ’s Advent would have been more appropriate.  In that regard, I like the Sarum collect for Advent 2, translated:

Stir up, O Lord, our hearts to prepare the way of Thy Only Begotten; that by His coming we may be counted worthy to serve Thee with purified hearts.  Who livest etc.

This collect has strong themes of Christ’s coming and of our preparation and response to the same.  And it echoes nicely the “Stir up” collect of the Sunday Next Before Advent.

Cranmer’s collect just does not fit as well in Advent in my not-so humble opinion.  I think it would fit very well early in Trinity season.  That long season of “ordinary time” emphasizes our response of discipleship to the great things God has done through Jesus Christ.  And close attention to His word is central to that.

But – let there be no misunderstanding – I am not advocating so altering Cranmer’s work in public liturgy.  Such a disruption to traditional Anglican worship would not be worth it.  And this collect is much beloved.  I am sure a great many would not want it moved to a less prominent place.

As for me, I intend to use both the Sarum and Cranmerian collects in my personal Daily Office.

When Should We Allow Advent to Become Christmasy?

A question with which this liturgical nitpicker wrestles each year is when shall Advent be allowed to become Christmasy?  To be more exact, when should I allow my Advent to become Christmasy?

Now I am tempted to drive Santa Claus out of the mall when he arrives even before Advent.  But in my more reasonable moments, I confess such enormities are not my concern.  How I observe Advent is.

As the Low Churchman points out, this concern can be taken to an extreme:

As part of their Advent observance, Ritualists are forbidden to take part in Christmas activities, to listen to Christmas music, or to allude to the coming of Christmastide in conversation. If a Ritualist is forced to attend a Christmas event against his better judgment, he is obliged to stand in the corner with a downcast expression, commenting angrily to passers-by that the Christmas season does not begin for another four hours.

No, I am not quite that bad about it.

By the way Christmas begins at the first note of the boy soloist singing Once in Royal David’s City in the Chapel of King’s College Cambridge.  And not a moment before.  Now you know.

Anyway, I do rightly consider Advent to be a penitential season focusing on the coming of Christ and preparation for that.  Thus some restraint is in order.  I do a number of little things.  I try to exercise some restraint in my diet (in part to offset the lack of restraint that will surely come later).  I play CDs that focus on Advent music for the first week of Advent at least.  Yes, those are hard to find.  But my numerous Christmas CDs can wait at least that long.

I have a homemade custom that ornaments depicting Santa do not go on the . . . Advent tree until St. Nicholas Day.  Yes, tomorrow.  By the way, St. Nicholas is a favorite saint.  I even intend to give a brief talk on him to a private party tomorrow night.

But I confess that, despite my pious efforts, by the time the Third Sunday in Advent comes around, I am unbearably Christmasy.  There is no hope for me then.  Even though I may continue to inveigh against premature displays of Christmas, privately I am listening to cheesy Christmas music and gazing upon lurid Christmas lights in the safety of my pick-up truck.  My excuses are that the Feast of St. Nicholas and the Third Sunday in Advent are appropriate times to allow oneself to become slightly more Christmasy.  But who is kidding who?

But in spite of myself, I do try to use Advent to watch and pray for Christ’s Advent and to get my life and attitudes more prepared for that blessed event.

And I guess I cannot quibble with the customs of those who do likewise . . . not too much anyway.

On the Sunday Next Before Advent

This Sunday is the Sunday Next Before Advent, which begins my favorite time of the church year, Advent through Christmas to Epiphany.  Yes, I know Advent does not really begin until next Sunday, but when this Sunday comes around, I can almost taste it.  For one thing I can get out my ADVENT music and listen to it with a clear conscious.  (Christmas music is still a forbidden enormity for a couple weeks at least.)

But this Sunday in particular also has a warm place in my heart. 

I especially remember this Sunday, also Christ the King Sunday, in Oxford back in 2007.  It began with church bells out my window then a glorious mass at Pusey House complete with a rousing Solemn Te Deum.  (And, yes, I highly recommend Pusey House on Christ the King Sunday for those in the Oxford area.)  It ended with a long anticipated heavenly candlelit Advent Lessons and Carols service at Magdalen in the evening.  (Well, it really ended with me taking dinner at a good Oxford pub, but with me that goes without saying.)

Also, that Sunday let me know that my long dark rainy Oxford Autumn was near an end.  Advent and home was near.

Wow, funny how the emotions of that time are coming back to me.

Then there is the unalloyed triumph of Christ the King Sunday, appropriate for the end of this church year.  Christ is King now and soon will reign on the Earth.

You can see that the Sunday Next Before Advent has a special place in my heart.  I hope this Sunday will be special to you as well.

A Psalm for Advent

During my recent sojourn in England, God blessed me with a frequent sense of his presence. Receiving communion at Pusey House most mornings was an important part of that blessing.

Psalm 46 was important to me as well in that regard, coming to mind time and time again. God showed himself to me to be not only “a very present help in trouble”, but also very present at all times.

As I’ve read and reread this psalm, for the first time I’ve noticed how appropriate it is for Advent. (Yes, I can be slow, but hey . . .) The presence of God with men is certainly a vital theme of Advent and then the Christmas season.

But what I had not noticed before is how Psalm 46 is almost a prophesy of the end times and of Christ’s Second Advent. The earth changing, melting even as God raises his voice; mountains slipping into the sea as the earth quakes – that sounds like end times. Nations making an uproar and God putting them in their place as “he makes wars to cease” in all the earth; then God is exalted in all the earth and is “with us,” even in our midst. All this reflects his glorious Second Advent.

Note there is no promise of “the Rapture” here, that his people escape all tribulation, but instead the assurance of God being a “very present help” and refuge to his people in the midst of tribulations now and future. And he will bring us to that “river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy dwelling places of the Most High.”

Again, Psalm 46 was very helpful to me in experiencing God’s presence in England and is a timely reminder of the same during Advent.

Jesus is coming . . . on May 21st.

I hope you do not have too much planned this summer. Because I just found out Jesus will return on May 21st.

I wish I could tell you this was revealed to me in the midst of pious contemplations while receiving the Holy Sacrament in clouds of incense. Some may prefer that I receive this revelation while rolling on the floor or barking and engaging in Holy Laughter, which is not to be confused with Holy Listening.

But actually this billboard told me.



To be specific, as this helpful web site and informative video explains, the Rapture will occur on May 21st. And God will destroy the world on October 21st. And “we can know” this from “the Bible alone.” Well, that settles it!

This should make for an interesting year. I wonder how the General Council of the Reformed Episcopal Church in June will be affected. . . .

Anyway, I know my readers are busy people. So I thought I would assist them in planning ahead.

You’re welcome.


MORE: I’ve poked around some more and found out the dates are the prediction of Harold Camping. Google “Camping May 21” and you’ll see numerous references.

The "O" Antiphons and Godly Backward Masking

Tonight is traditionally the first night to begin the seven “O” Antiphons, which mark the height of Advent leading up to Christmas Eve. An excellent summary of them with mp3s and the scriptures behind them may be found at fisheaters:

The seven "O Antiphons" (also called the "Greater Antiphons" or "Major Antiphons") are prayers that come from the Breviary's Vespers during the Octave before Christmas Eve, a time which is called the "Golden Nights."

Each Antiphon begins with "O" and addresses Jesus with a unique title which comes from the prophecies of Isaias and Micheas (Micah), and whose initials, when read backwards, form an acrostic for the Latin "Ero Cras" which means "Tomorrow I come." Those titles for Christ are:
Sapientia
Adonai
Radix Jesse
Clavis David
Oriens
Rex Gentium
Emmanuel

It never occurred to me that there might be such a thing as godly backward masking, but there you go.

I intend to include these in my late Advent devotions, beginning tonight – a first for me.

Advent Sunday Sermon at Smokey Matt’s

I mentioned that I had the pleasure of worshipping at Smokey Matt’s this past Advent Sunday. Here follows the aforementioned excellent sermon preached by the Rector. (With thanks to Fr. Duncan for passing it along.)


A Sermon Preached by Father Dwight D. Duncan, ssc – Rector, St Matthias’ Church, Dallas, Texas

11/28/2010 ADVENT I Romans 13:8-14, Year A

A new Christian Year begins today. We have entered the season of Advent, four weeks of preparing ourselves to celebrate worthily the nativity of Our Lord and Savior. We mark this new beginning in various ways:

# Some of the prayers and music of the Mass change. They are stately, simpler, expressing longing for the Savior.

# An Advent Wreath stands before us, its candles marking our progress through the weeks of our journey to Bethlehem.

# The vesture of the altar and the Sacred Ministers changes, blue predominating. But this blue is not vibrant. It is soft, sober, expressing Advent’s calm, patient, deliberate progress to Christmass.

Our changes in “here” are in marked contrast to those confronting us out “there”. Out “there”, music bombards us everywhere, its tempo rapid, its tone loud, encouraging us to scurry about the “busyness” of what the secular world makes of this season. Colors have changed out “there” as well: vivid colors of over-flowing decorations, assaulting our eyes sometimes like strobe lights.

In Advent, the contrast between the attitude of the Catholic Christian and modern secular people is at its most radical. My wife and I have already experienced this, during our recent pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham in England. Whenever we left the precincts of the Shrine, we were confronted with this split. Actually, we were confronted with this radical disconnect even within the Shrine, whenever we turned on the television. It was startlingly to discover how profoundly saturated with the secular world’s abuse of this season England is. Nary a mention or sign of Christ, but most definitely signs, symbols, sounds of a pagan bacchanalia. Everywhere ... everywhere.

The secularist spends this time frantically celebrating a godless winter holiday, speaking much of a “spirit of the season” that he would wish to last the entire year. But that “spirit” relies on the energy and effort of us humans and too often is fueled by the spirits in one’s cocktail, a reason why this spirit can hardly last 12 hours! The Catholic Christian, on the other hand, is called in this season to the same calm pace and quietness which our Lady Mary kept as she awaited the bringing-forth, not of some sentimental spirit of the season, but of the Word of God made flesh.

The “world” – and in saying this I recognize, as must you, how much the “world” is still within each of us – the “world” is comfortable with “the spirit of the season” because this spirit makes no real demands on it’s body, appetites, and indulgences. The spirit of the secular winter holiday encourages us to eat and drink to excess, to stay up late, to overspend, to stay busy, and to try hard to have a good time. Most definitely, this season’s spirit is good for business.

But this world is not comfortable with the God-made-Man whose birth we Christians are preparing to celebrate. The world is uncomfortable with the Christian celebration because it rightly suspects danger to its business as usual. It rightly suspects that a God who chooses to clothe himself in our flesh, our matter, is going to make material demands on us. This God will require that our appetites be disciplined and not indulged, that all his gifts to us be used to his glory and for the common good. And that is bad for business.

The “world” is also not comfortable with the calm pace and quietness of Advent. The “world” wants noise, constant activity, go-go-go. Normally, one of the public places where we can stop for a few moments and have some quiet is a rest-room. Note the word: rest-room. You can’t go there during this season and get that, not with that horrid music pressuring you to get on with it!

The “world”, you see, fears that in the calm and quiet a Voice might speak, a Voice which will ask us to give not things, but to give ourselves. And so the more noise, the more activity, the more spending, the better, for the Voice itself is still and small and easily drowned.

We who profess the Catholic faith have not so learned Christ. No, this is what we have learned, as St Paul puts it to us in today’s lesson from his letter to the Christians in Rome: “Let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us conduct ourselves becomingly as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ.”

“Put on the Lord Jesus Christ.” Exactly. In this holy season, we Christians are called to open ourselves to this Season’s real spirit, the Holy Spirit. We are to put aside the frantic activity of the secular season. Insofar as it is possible, and just a little bit more than is possible, we are to become still and quiet. We are to look at God and into ourselves. We are to seek by the grace of the One-Who-Comes to set right the disorder in our lives, to subdue to him the world that remains within us and to prepare a place where he might lodge.

It is not that we are to shun our secular neighbors and separate ourselves from them during this Season. That would be a gross violation of charity. Rather we are to order our movement with them through this Season so that it is redeemed and sanctified, so that, through us, they are touched within it by the true Spirit of this Season, rather than by the spirit they try so desperately to manufacture.

With this in mind, I give you a few suggestions to help you redeem this Season, for yourselves and our secular neighbors. Taking a cue from our good Curate, who often makes his points by a succession of words beginning with the same letter, my suggestions are four “P’s”: parties, presents, prayer, penance.

PARTIES: You and I are going to be invited to parties before the real party season, Christmass, arrives. What should we do? Well, if you are free and willing to go, accept the invitation. That will be an act of charity towards your hosts. But go to the party with an agenda different from that of most people.

First, drink less and don’t stay out as late. That will be an act of charity to yourself, and also to others who will not have had to endure boorish, inebriated behavior from you and whose roads will be safer when they are on them.

Second, our tendency at parties is to want others to entertain us, to take an interest in us. Instead, look for someone to whom no one else is paying attention or someone with whom you’d rather have little or nothing to do. Go to them; draw them out; take an interest in them. In doing this, you will be imitating your Savior, who came not to be served, but to serve.

PRESENTS: For those personal gifts you wish to give, budget your spending and don’t spend more money than you have. Otherwise you will be a poor steward of the treasure God has given you. And don’t wait until the last minute to select your gifts: by that point you will be in real danger of overspending.

And when you wrap those gifts: give yourself to the recipient and give the recipient to God. What do I mean by this? I mean take your time doing the wrapping; do it the best you can; try to make it something which will be a visual blessing for the one who receives it. But most importantly, pray to God during the wrapping for the person who will receive it.

PRAYER: Spend some time alone with God everyday. Reflect on the Gift he gives you at the end of Advent: himself. Remind yourself why he had to come to us as he did: our sin. Rejoice over all the work he expended to make possible his coming: his labor is testimony of how important to him we are. The Advent Liturgy for the Home is a fine way of observing such a time. Its readings are a wonderful narrative of the plan and action by which God has come to us. And the Liturgy can be done by one person alone or by several together.

PENANCE: Do a thorough examination of conscience before Christmass and make your confession. If you are still too frightened about making your personal confession before a priest (which of course is the Sin of Pride rearing its ugly head!), then for God’s sake and yours do a thorough examination of conscience and offer it up to God at the Christ Mass. Please consider this: when Jesus comes to you at the Christ Mass, you may only be a stable and not a palace, but the stable you are could be/should be in order and its straw clean.

The counsel I’ve just given you for dealing in this Season with Parties, Presents, Prayer, and Penance provide a discipline by which you can prepare room within yourself for the coming King. We cannot do this when we are rushing about frantically, when we are worrying about where we will get the money to pay for extravagant gifts, and when we are burdened with the weight of unconfessed sin. Only when we abide in temperance, in calmness and quietness, and in God’s mercy can we keep the feast which begins on Christmass Day. When we do so abide, then the merriness of Christmass and the quietness of Advent will combine to carry us with joy into the year unfolding ahead. God bless us one and all as we progress
through this most holy and wonderful of seasons.