No, I haven't flipped my calendar ahead six weeks. This coming Sunday is the first Sunday of the New Year...that is, the First Sunday in the new Christian Liturgical Year!
The Christian Liturgical Year does not start with Christmas or Easter or Pentecost, but rather with a prolonged season of anticipation. The Christian Liturgical Year starts with the Season of Advent -- the four Sunday's that lead up to the celebration of the coming of Christ!
So for the next four weeks it is all about anticipation, expectation, and the promises of God.
This Sunday, the First Sunday of Advent is the Sunday of Hope. We will light the first purple candle in our Advent Wreath, hear the words of hope and expectation from our Holy Scriptures, and celebrate together as we eagerly anticipate once more and all over again the birth of Christ in our hearts and in our world.
Our Gospel Reading for the First Sunday of Advent:
Mark 13: 24-37
‘But in those days, after that suffering,
the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light,
and the stars will be falling from heaven,
and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.
Then they will see “the Son of Man coming in clouds” with great power and glory. Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
‘From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
‘But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. Therefore, keep awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.’
No comments:
Post a Comment