Advent (28th Nov – 23rd Dec) is a season of expectation and preparation, as the Church prepares to celebrate the coming (adventus) of Christ in his incarnation. We also looks ahead to his final advent as judge at the end of time. The readings and liturgies not only direct us towards Christ’s birth, they also challenge the modern reluctance to confront the themes of the four Last Things: death, divine judgement, hell and heaven.
Advent is a prelude to Christmas. Traditionally, popular Christmas carols are sung only on Christmas and the 12 days after. Here, we tend to start celebrating Christmas earlier with a hard stop after 25th December. Therefore, some churches begin to sing a mix of Advent and Christmas hymns during the Advent season. The color of Advent is purple.
This year, we are organizing an onsite Lessons and Carols Service (7 pm 18thDec) to both “lament” and celebrate the coming of Christ during this difficult pandemic season.
The first Sunday of Advent is also the first day of a new Christian Year. To help you to observe Advent, I strongly encourage you to follow the daily lectionary via the online daily office. See the Notices section for details. The diagram above gives an overview of the different seasons in the church calendar.
I will be sharing a bit more in due course on how observing the church traditions can help in our Christian formation.
This week, the staff and some lay leaders will be meeting to pray and plan for 2022. Even as we begin the process, we do appreciate your feedback. There is much to prepare for as we welcome a new year. We continue to pray that more restrictions will be lifted in due course.