The advent season marks the beginning of a new liturgical cycle. Each of the four weeks of Advent are in December. Our Advent preparation for our Lord culminates at our Sunday morning, December 24 service. The service will mirror our Advent anticipation beginning in Advent and transitioning to Christmas Eve.
We will have a year of readings from Mark's gospel, interspersed with John's gospel. Mark's gospel was the first gospel written, and it's the shortest. It is similar to a Reader's Digest version.
The Advent wreath helps us countdown the weeks until we can light the Christ candle. Something I learned from our pastor in the Holy Land, was the symbolism of each candle:
First Sunday in Advent
The readings for the first Sunday in Advent relate to the Old Testament patriarchs who were Christ's ancestors, so some call the first Advent candle that of hope.
Second Sunday in Advent
The readings for the second Sunday concern Christ's birth in a manger and other prophecies, so the candle may be called the “Bethlehem candle”, the “way candle”, or the “prophets' candle”.
Third Sunday in Advent
The third Sunday, called Gaudete [joy] Sunday after the first word of the introit (Philippians 4:4)… The readings relate to John the Baptist, and the [third] candle may be called the “joy candle”, “Mary candle”, or “shepherds' candle”.
Fourth Sunday in Advent
The readings for the fourth Sunday relate to the annunciation of Christ's birth, for which the “Song of Mary” may be featured. The candle may be known as the “angel's candle”. (Rev. Tilman Bergman and Wikipedia).
Advent is counter-cultural. All the advertisements coming from all directions are going to catch our attention and then try to mold us into their image. Our heart rates accelerate as we worry about being so far behind with all of our Christmas preparations.
I hope you will take the time to thoughtfully prepare the way of the Lord. The Apostle Paul wrote, “Don't let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God re-mold your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity” (Romans 12:2, J.B. Phillips New Testament). Amen!
In Christ’s abundant love,
Pastor Ivy
Pastor's Message
December 2023
Pastor Ivy Gauvin