First Sunday of Advent
“In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.’ But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’ The angel said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.’ Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ Then the angel departed from her.”
- Luke 1:26-38 NRSVUE
Advent begins this Sunday, December 1. Advent 1 is always the first of the last four Sundays before Christmas Day. Advent 1 marks the beginning of a new liturgical year. This year being Year C. There is a three-year liturgical cycle, A, B, C. With the Gospel readings in Year A mainly from the Gospel of Matthew, Year B from the Gospel of Mark, and Year C from the Gospel of Luke. The Gospel of John is spread out among the three-year cycle. Advent 1 also marks the coming of Jesus. The coming of Jesus as both the child as well as the second coming. We are to prepare our hearts for this event.
There are lots of ways to do this work of preparation and an Advent Wreath is one. We will have Advent Wreath making between the morning services, with breakfast, to prepare our hearts for Jesus. The Advent Wreath is a way of praying daily with your families and preparing them for the coming of the Christ Child.
There is so much meaning in those Wreaths. The four candles are for each Sunday. Sometimes the candles are red or white or purple or blue and sometimes with one pink candle. Those typically represent the weeks. The color purple or blue is about repentance and preparing your hearts for the arrival of Jesus. The pink candle is for the third Sunday in Advent sometimes referred to as Guadete Sunday. Guadete is Latin for “rejoice” in English, so the third week is about rejoicing because we are almost there. Then in some Advent Wreaths there is a white candle in the middle representing Jesus’ birth.
There are also meanings behind the materials used. For example: Ivy might represent our clinging to God’s strength, cedar representing eternal life, holly reminding us of Jesus’ crown of thorns, and bay to remind us of victory over sin and death.
All these symbols, and more I am sure, are about making us mindful of the coming of Christ over the next four Sundays. If nothing else they make us mindful of the presence of Jesus when we come together, light the candle, and pray together. One of those passages might be the one above. Where Gabriel announces to Mary the Good news that she will give birth to Jesus, and Mary says yes to what she at first thought was impossible. But when she heard of Elizabeth and the reminder that with God all things are possible all she could say was, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord.”
Praying with the Advent Wreath during this time of Advent we agree with Mary. We know something great coming is being celebrated, someone great. When we pray, we are acknowledging God’s power over everything and offering ourselves to God by following Mary and saying, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord.”
Come this Sunday for worship and Advent Wreath making. Let’s make a commitment to prepare our hearts for the coming of Jesus.
God’s Peace,
Fr. Mitch+