by Reverend Gerry Bennet, Assisting Priest,
(from December 2000 Tidings)
Gerry’s Geriatric Glimmerings
Welcome to the New Year
Purify us, Lord, that Jesus when He
comes, may find us prepared for Him
-Paraphrased from the Collect for Advent 4
We are accustomed to viewing Advent as a season of preparation for the
birth of Christ, but it is equally appropriate to anticipate the Second Coming as well! In
addition it marks Israel’s coming to its fulfillment of God’s promise; and
finally Advent is a link between two halves of the Christian Year, between this world and
the world to come. It is a link between God and Man
So Advent is a time to ease into the hectic season of Christmas; a time
to be introspective; a time to look at ourselves and the world in light of Jesus who comes
to be among us. We have come through the long, hot season of Pentecost (especially here in
Florida). It its time to "cool down" a bit.
Each year we go back to Bethlehem. Back to a time of preparation and
anticipation. We know the events that are to come, for we experience them anew each year.
But they are always new, always fresh, always exciting. We are sent back in time and
forward in realization. We participate in scripture that tells an old, old story of hope,
a story of promise. We look to the manger to see the Babe surrounded by a "great
cloud of witnesses." The shepherds, the wise men, the animals and inn-keeper provide
a glimpse of the common, the ordinary in an extraordinary event. Through these witnesses
we can return each year to Bethlehem to worship the Child, the King, the Promise.
We arrive on the scene once again, with full knowledge of the story and
its impact on the world, but awed by the story and its impact. We go as witnesses, to
stand with those earlier witnesses, to see and wrap ourselves in the Promise. By so doing,
we know who He is, who we are and why we are here.
And so we prepare. There was a long period of preparation for that
first Advent; and we join those ancient people awaiting in joy and anticipation The
Coming. Into our lives, into our world, into our hearts.
May this Advent season prepare us to meet the one who has come, the one
who will come, the one who continues to come: our Lord Jesus Christ.
In Christ’s Love,
Fr. Gerry+
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