An Advent Primer
The Liturgical year starts with the season of Advent. It is a four week season that is used to anticipate and intentionally prepare ourselves for the coming of Christ.[1] The name comes from the Latin Adventus which means “to come.” During this season we take time to remember the three comings of Christ – one past, one future, and one present.
The first coming of Christ is, of course, the incarnation and his birth which we celebrate every Christmas season. God loved the world in such a way that God became one of us so that we might become like God! These four weeks help us to wrestle with this mind-boggling reality that the Creator of all things became a part of creation itself in order that it may all be redeemed. Advent prepares us for Christmas as we focus on what it means that God stepped physically into a point in human history in order to reconcile all things to Godself.
The second coming of Christ is, well, the Second Coming. This aspect of Advent looks forward and brings with it a more penitential feeling. Advent is a season to take a purposeful look at ourselves and confess the ways in which we have strayed from loving God and neighbor. It is a time to embrace the reconciliation that God is offering to us and purposefully change our ways so that when Christ returns we are found ready.
The third coming of Christ is found in several ways. Advent helps us to stop and recognize the ways that Christ is coming among us even now. It is a time to focus on the Eucharist where Christ makes his grace available to us through his body and blood. It is a time to focus on how Christ is making himself known to us in the Church. It is a time to focus on how Christ is to be found in one another.
We remember all of these things using symbols. Many will be familiar with the Advent wreath. The wreath continues 4 candles which one by one are lit over the four weeks. Although most sanctuaries (or homes if doing this at home) are fairly well lit, in days gone by this would have created quite the image. The days are getting darker and longer (if you are in the Northern Hemisphere), but the sanctuary is gradually getting brighter. One candle, then two, then 3, then four. Slowly light is making its way back in. On Christmas Day, we then light the largest candle, the Christ candle, which shows us that finally the light of the world has come into the world! Light has fully entered and the darkness cannot overcome it.
Each of the four Advent candles are also represent a specific theme. Many use them to represent to hope, love, joy, and peace. However, several churches have also returned to an old tradition of having them represent the four last things: death, judgment, heaven, and hell. We see, especially in the second set of themes, the penitential nature of this season that has often been forgotten about.
The color of Advent has particular reasons as well. Three out of the four weeks utilize the color purple. This represents two things – the royalty of the coming King and the penance. On the third Sunday, however, the color rose is utilized to remind us that even in the midst of penance that there is joy! Our returning to God and God’s ways should be a joyous thing! You’ll also notice that this color scheme matches with the season of Lent (Advent has rose for Gaudete Sunday and Lent has it for Laetare Sunday), as both are a preparation for the reign of Christ. Advent prepares us for Christmas and Lent prepares us for Easter. These seasons although often treated in very different ways are actually quite similar and serve the same basic purpose. Many churches throughout Christian history have fasted throughout Advent, just like they do during Lent.
Advent is a season of preparing and all that that entails. It is a season of repenting and returning to the ways that God calls us to, rejoicing and celebrating in the goodness of the coming, and preparing ourselves to contemplate what it means that God has truly become one of us.
[1] Some Churches utilize a seven week Advent. For more information on that see What Are We Waiting For? Re-Imagining Advent for Time to Come by William H. Petersen.
Commentaires