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Advent 1: Preparing for the Inevitable
Our family tradition on Black Friday is for my brother to take my six children out for lunch and shopping. They all look forward to it each year, and Papa Toad and I get a break. As our children are getting older, that break becomes less important, but this year we both had a couple of yard projects we hadn’t been able to finish and we looked forward to the consecutive hours that would be ours. Several weeks ago, Papa Toad felled three 70-80 foot spruces that still needed some cleanup, and I had some garden work I’d been neglecting, cutting back my raspberry canes and pulling the last of the carrots and the like, that I wanted to get done before the big snowstorm expected Sunday into Monday.
I’m glad I got them out before the snow began to fly this morning. Papa Toad was able to finish his work as well. The photo to the right is the garden right now.
As I was washing the carrots today, I thought to myself how thankful I was to my brother that I had been given that time Friday to prepare. It made me think about the “holiday season.” People are being urged to “get into the Christmas spirit,” which seems to mean buying gifts and decorating fabulously, but as a Catholic Christian, I don’t like to celebrate too early. I don’t want to be done with my feasting and joy by December 26. That’s when I’m just hitting my Christmas groove!
In his homily today at Mass, our pastor spoke of being prepared, not only for Christmas the holiday celebration, but for Christ’s coming, the second coming of Christ, which we Christians profess, or for our deaths when we will meet our Savior. He told a charming story of three devils, preparing to head to the world to tempt us humans, being asked by Satan how they planned to go about their work.
“I’ll convince them there is no God,” said the first.
“I’ll convince them there is no Hell,” said the second.
“I’ll convince them there is no hurry,” said the third.
Satan congratulated the third devil for his cleverness and guaranteed future success.
Another thing the priest spoke of was how some institutions practice fire drills and the like to get ready for emergencies. “You and I have Advent,” he declared. “It is exactly what we need.”
Just for fun.
Awww! So cute!
This morning our [Methodist] pastor used the story of Jesus’ circumcision (Luke 2:21-40, a scripture I have more often heard in January) to highlight that Simeon and Anna had been waiting, and had eyes and ears open to the Holy Spirit to recognize the Messiah in His unexpected form.
Our first reading was from Isaiah 2, verses 1-5. “O house of Jacob, come! Let us walk in the light of the Lord!”
The Psalm was 122: “Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord!”
The second reading was from Romans 13, verses 11-14: “You know the time; it is the hour now for you to awake from sleep. For our salvation is nearer now than when we believed; the night is advanced; the day is at hand.”
The Gospel reading was from Matthew 24:37-44: “So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”
Every morning as my sisters and I filed out the door for school, my mom would hold the door open and say, “This is a day the Lord has made! Rejoice and be glad in it!” My sister read it at her memorial service.
Exact same story in our homily today. Then Monsignor basically launched into the four last things.
I always hear James Brown in this verse…
I like to decorate in time for Gaudete Sunday and leave things up until Epiphany. Or the baptism of the Lord if the weather is lousy.
That’s the Toad Hall way as well.
On a completely different note Mama Toad, I planted raspberries for the very first time ever this year. Should I cut the canes back, or give the plants more time to establish themselves?
Yesterday was the first time I have ever heard a priest preach a homily and say that our primary use of Advent is to prepare ourselves for the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He spoke at length on how we all need to get ourselves to the Sacrament of Penance as the beginning of our preparation. So simple, yet so profound.
I’ll post a link later but I cut back the canes that fruited.
Oh Beautiful for fruited canes…
I was really inspired by all of these readings today. Prepare yourself. Put on the armor of light and let it shine outward. Two of us working in the conference room but only one will be taken.
Lent is about penance to me; Advent is about preparing and trying to be who I profess to want to be – before it’s too late.
God bless!
Thanks
@patrickb63, I am sorry I never answered!
Here is my go-to guy for all questions gardening, talking about raspberries.