WELCOME ADVENT
Welcome Advent!
The season to prepare our hearts and minds
to celebrate and enter more deeply
into the inner meaning of Christ’s coming.
Welcome Advent!
The season of hope that looks beyond the horizon
of our lives,
to be ready to greet Christ
when he brings all to completion.
Welcome Advent!
The time to be set free
from all that would imprison us,
and help take the world along the way of Christ.
Welcome Advent!
The season of light,
the time to expose the dark corners
in our own lives and the life of our world,
to drive out the gloom,
to embrace the warm healing glow
of the Lord of Advent.
Welcome Advent!
The season of the silent presence of God
When Christ silently dwelt in Mary’s womb.
When John the Baptist silently leapt for joy.
When Joseph silently pondered,
and Mary broke the silence with her song of freedom
so that all might welcome the Advent of the Lord.
C.S.
For the Season of Advent
ADVENT JOY NOW
Joy is the golden thread running through the Gospels.
Elizabeth and Zechariah are filled with the joy of a new-born son.
The young Mary sings a song of joy, rejoicing in God her Saviour.
Her heart and her voice are aflame with the overshadowing presence of the Spirit of God.
John the Baptist kicks out with joy within the womb of Elizabeth.
Shepherds and kings fall down in joyous adoration.
Earth and heaven together sing a song to God's glory.
Simeon and Anna no longer need to keep vigil.
The fulfilled promise of God
leads to joyful surrender to peace-filled death.
The blind and the lame, the social outcasts,
all welcome with joy the healing touch and words of Jesus.
The joy on earth is perfectly reflected in the songs of heaven -
the joy of heaven over one sinner who repents.
The same joy in God
is held out for us if only we will hold out our hands.
For the joy of living in the Kingdom begins now
- not in some idealized future.
This is the joy that no one can take away:
the transforming grace of God,
that changes lives and creates bearers of God's joy
for our world today.
C.S.
Left: detail from 'The Visitation with SS Nicholas & Anthony' by Piero di Cosimo c. 1490
FINAL BEATITUDES
BLESSED are those who keep vigilant
for the Day of the Lord:
for they must be ready at all times
to welcome the appearance of Christ.
BLESSED are those who are invited
to the marriage supper of the Lamb:
for they will taste the fruits of the tree of life.
BLESSED are those who have been washed
in the sacrificial blood of the Lamb:
for they will be given a new garment
that will never fade.
BLESSED are the martyrs
who died faithful to the word of the Lord:
they will reign with God for ever and ever.
BLESSED are those who die trusting in the Lord:
for the Spirit says they will rest from their work on earth
and their Christ-like deeds will go before them.
C.S.
Based on Beatitudes from the Book of Revelation
ADVENT 1955
The Advent wind begins to stir
With sea-like sounds in our Scotch fir,
It's dark at breakfast, dark at tea,
And in between we only see
Clouds hurrying across the sky
And rain-wet roads the wind blows dry
And branches bending to the gale
Against great skies all silver pale
The world seems travelling into space,
And travelling at a faster pace
Than in the leisured summer weather
When we and it sit out together,
For now we feel the world spin round
On some momentous journey bound -
Journey to what? to whom? to where?
The Advent bells call out 'Prepare,
Your world is journeying to the birth
Of God made Man for us on earth.'
And how, in fact, do we prepare
The great day that waits us there -
For the twenty-fifth day of December,
The birth of Christ? For some it means
An interchange of hunting scenes
On coloured cards, And I remember
Last year I sent out twenty yards,
Laid end to end, of Christmas cards
To people that I scarcely know -
They'd sent a card to me, and so
I had to send one back. Oh dear!
Is this a form of Christmas cheer?
Or is it, which is less surprising,
My pride gone in for advertising?
The only cards that really count
Are that extremely small amount
From real friends who keep in touch
And are not rich but love us much
Some ways indeed are very odd
By which we hail the birth of God.
We raise the price of things in shops,
We give plain boxes fancy tops
And lines which traders cannot sell
Thus parcell'd go extremely well
We dole out bribes we call a present
To those to whom we must be pleasant
For business reasons. Our defence is
These bribes are charged against expenses
And bring relief in Income Tax
Enough of these unworthy cracks!
'The time draws near the birth of Christ'.
A present that cannot be priced
Given two thousand years ago
Yet if God had not given so
He still would be a distant stranger
And not the Baby in the manger.
Sir John Betjeman
ADVENT JOY NOW
Joy is the golden thread running through the Gospels.
Elizabeth and Zechariah are filled with the joy of a new-born son.
The young Mary sings a song of joy,
rejoicing in God her Saviour.
Her heart and her voice are aflame
with the overshadowing presence of the Spirit of God.
John the Baptist kicks out with joy within the womb of Elizabeth.
Shepherds and kings fall down in joyous adoration.
Earth and heaven together sing a song to God's glory.
Simeon and Anna no longer need to keep vigil.
The fulfilled promise of God
leads to joyful surrender to peace-filled death.
The blind and the lame, the social outcasts,
all welcome with joy the healing touch and words of Jesus.
The joy on earth is perfectly reflected
in the songs of heaven -
the joy of heaven over one sinner who repents.
The same joy in God
is held out for us if only we will hold out our hands.
For the joy of living in the Kingdom
begins now - not in some idealized future.
This is the joy that no one can take away:
the transforming grace of God,
that changes lives and creates bearers of God's joy
for our world today.
C.S.
WELCOME ADVENT
Welcome Advent!
The season to prepare our hearts and minds
to celebrate and enter more deeply
into the inner meaning of Christ’s coming.
Welcome Advent!
The season of hope that looks beyond the horizon
of our lives,
to be ready to greet Christ
when he brings all to completion.
Welcome Advent!
The time to be set free
from all that would imprison us,
and help take the world along the way of Christ.
Welcome Advent!
The season of light,
the time to expose the dark corners
in our own lives and the life of our world,
to drive out the gloom,
to embrace the warm healing glow
of the Lord of Advent.
Welcome Advent!
The season of the silent presence of God
When Christ silently dwelt in Mary’s womb.
When John the Baptist silently leapt for joy.
When Joseph silently pondered,
and Mary broke the silence with her song of freedom
so that all might welcome the Advent of the Lord.
C.S.