Thursday, November 17, 2005

Preparation for Advent

We are on the cusp of Advent -- my favorite season of the Church's year. For my daily reflectioin, I will be dusting off my copy of Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas compiled by the Bruderhof community and now published by Orbis (because the Bruderhof shut down their hard-print business -- something I lament). Amazon has it for under $11.

I'm opening up myself up here, I know, but I invite you to share with the Versus Populum community a favorite or challenging or touching Advent verse (or paragraph or two).

On the first Monday of Advent, I'll post a short message offering space for contributions. Feel free to add your favorite to the Comments space. (I don't encourage more than a couple of paragraphs -- unless it happens to be one of my favorite thinkers . Since the post will remain open, you need not post that day: I surely hope you will discover something amazing during the season. Feel free to add to the wealth throughout the season.

You have been notified, "noticed" (in legal jargon), and warned.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

There's this quote:

We proclaim the coming of Christ - not just a first coming but another as well that will be far more glorious than the first. The first took place under the sign of patient suffering; the second, on the contrary, will see Christ wearing the crown of God's kingdom.
Almost everything about our Lord Jesus Christ is twofold. He has two births: one from God before the ages, the other from the Virgin at the end of the ages. He has two comings: the one is hidden and resembles the falling of the dew upon a fleece; the other - the future one - on the contrary, will be manifest. At his first coming, he was wrapped in linens and laid in a manger; at the second, light shall be his robe. In his first coming, he endured the Cross, heedless of its shame; at his second coming he will be in glory and surrounded by an army of angels. Let us therefore not stop at his first coming but look forward to the second. We hailed him at his first coming with the words, 'Blessed is he who comes in the Lord's name!' and shall hail him in the same way at his second coming. For we shall go out to meet the Lord and his angels and, prostrating ourselves before him, we shall cry, 'Blessed is he who comes in the Lord's name.'
-St. Cyril of Jerusalem

RAR