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Dear Friends,
Thank you to all who joined us for our joyous Pizza, Pew, Pie gathering and service. What a wonderful evening. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration.
Sunday marks the First Sunday of Advent, the Church’s liturgical New Year.
Advent is an interesting time of year. Most of the cultural cues around us are focused on preparing to celebrate Christmas (with or without any connection to Jesus). While the four Sundays of Advent lead up to Christmas, the season’s focus is not Jesus’ birth but Christ’s coming again at the end of time. We draw upon the stories and memory of Jesus Christ’s coming into the world the first time to help us understand and prepare for Christ’s return.
John the Baptist’s call to prepare the way, to repent, is not simply a historical memory of his life and ministry on the banks of the Jordan River. John’s words remain a spiritual call for all of us to prepare ourselves to meet God in Christ, to not procrastinate, to do our work now.
When we know that company is coming to visit or stay with us, we ready our homes to receive them. We want to put our best foot forward. We want to honor them, show our gratitude for our relationship and their arrival by creating a warm positive environment.
If we were to imagine God coming to us in four weeks, what would you do? What would you want to change or accomplish by then?
Faithfully yours,
Fr. Alan
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