Weekly Gospel reflection by Mark
When it came to naming my children, lots of thought was put into it. This is because their mother and I took seriously the idea that we and others would be calling them by their name every day. We wanted to ensure that the names spoken over their lives, that they heard every day as people spoke their name, labelled them in a way that formed and shaped who they might become.
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By Mark
The Christmas and New Year period (and add Thanksgiving for our American readers) is such a busy time of year that distractions are not only easy to come by, but are expected. There is much to do, things to prepare for, events to attend, and people we feel the need and urge to see and spend time with. Sometimes we need something to draw us back to what is important and remind us what the season is all about.
That’s one of the things I appreciate about the season of Advent. Advent has built into it an amazing weeklong addition that happens from the 17th to the 23rd which, if we engage with it, forces us to put on the brakes as we are bolting toward the main event of Christmas. It can help us be mindful of the purpose of the Christmas celebration.
Before I tell you about O Antiphons, you probably need to know what an antiphon is and why we have them.
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It’s Advent at Martha’s House! To be fair, it’s also Advent everywhere in the world there are Christians, but let’s talk about what’s going on here, in our dispersed Benedictish community. We have two exciting new resources to share with the world.
Weekly Gospel reflection by Mark
As we commence Advent for 2019 this Sunday, we are faced with quite an interesting reading. Of course, it seems Jesus here is talking about a coming of the Son of Man at the end of the age. That may be so, but again, the beauty of Lectio gives is space to let God speak to us is ways often around or beyond the text.
When you see the words of verse 44 – “Therefore, you also must be ready…”, what do you imagine?
Are you ready to receive Jesus? While you could wait to see Jesus at the end of the age (whenever that will be and/or whatever that may look like), you may miss Jesus elsewhere.
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The season of Advent encompasses the four Sundays before Christmas and concludes with the Evening Service on Christmas Eve. The word Advent comes from the Latin adventus which means coming. It is literally the season when we remember the time in which the people of God waited for the coming of the Messiah, Jesus, which we of course celebrate on Christmas Day AND the 11 days after that (yes, there are 12 Days of Christmas).
So really, Advent is all about waiting.
And if there is something we tend to not like waiting for, it’s Christmas! Decorations go up, Carols start playing, shopping for presents begins and plans are being made in some places as early as September! It’s like we want to get to Christmas and we want to get there NOW! We really don’t like…
Waiting.
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Martha's House 