Invited into Hope

First Sunday of Advent (Year A)

Isaiah 2.1-5; Romans 13.11-14; Matthew 24.36-44

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

 

Happy New Year!

 

Yes, today we begin a new liturgical year and a new liturgical season: Advent. The term Advent derived from the Latin adventus, meaning “coming” or “arrival.” The four-week season in which we anticipate and prepare for the coming of the Christ Child on Christmas.

 

Although, as we look at our readings for this, the First Sunday of Advent, there is nothing that even remotely points to the birth of Jesus, of God incarnate, of God in the flesh. Instead, in our Old Testament reading we get a lovely vision of a future Jerusalem and of universal peace. In our Epistle reading, we get a stern warning of the need to “wake from sleep” to prepare for some sort of battle, to “put on the armor of light.” And in our Gospel reading, we get even more and urgent warnings about the need to “keep awake” because we do not know when the Son of Man will come, and failure to be vigilant could result in our being left behind when he does come. All of these readings pointing not to the birth of the Christ Child, but rather to what is sometimes referred to as “the end times,” to the Parousia, to the Second Coming of Christ.

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No Kings . . . Except One

Christ the King (Proper 29C)

Jeremiah 23.1-6; Colossians 1.11-20; Luke 23.33-43

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

 

Today we celebrate the feast of Christ the King. For those who are more politically engaged, the irony will not be lost that we celebrate this day at a time which has seen not one but two public calls for protest and action in what have been termed “No Kings” days—one in June and one in October. Protests against the increasing tyrannical actions of our current administration in Washington, DC. While organized as protests against an American president, these actions were actually international in nature, with protests occurring around the world—although, depending on the form of government in those places, the protests carried such names as No Tyrants Day or No Dictators Day.

 

Truth be told, the celebration of Christ the King Sunday on the veritable heels of international protests against kings, dictators, and tyrants is coincidental, although in keeping with the original intent of this celebration. Christ the King Sunday was established precisely because of concerns on the part of the Roman Catholic Church regarding the rise of nationalistic political movements and all that goes with them. Although, while still relevant today, those original concerns leading to the establishment of Christ the King Sunday were not raised recently, but rather 100 years ago.

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Toward New Heavens and a New Earth

Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 28C)

Isaiah 65.17-25; Luke 21.5-19

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

 

On any given Sunday, the scripture readings—especially the Old Testament and the Gospel readings—are generally in alignment thematically. The framers of our lectionary—the list of assigned readings for the day—have purposefully selected Old Testament passages that, to some extent, exemplify or enhance the Gospel reading. Or vice versa. But that certainly does not seem to be the case today. As we near the end of our liturgical year, both our Old Testament and Gospel readings point to visions of what is to come: to an “end time,” to an end of the present reality documented by Isaiah and by Luke. And yet, the entire theme of this metaphorical “end times” as it were—what that “end time” will look like—is thrown into a tailspin.

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Inheritance

All Saints’ Sunday

Ephesians 1.11-23; Luke 6.20-31

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

 

For a society and a people that seem to spend a fair amount of time denying our mortality, not wanting to think about the one event that we are all certain to experience—our own death—it is interesting that we devote not one but three days to remembering the dead. These three days are, of course, Halloween, All Saints’ Day (November 1) and All Souls Day (November 2), in which we remember and celebrate all those who have gone before, including saints, martyrs, and all faithful departed believers. While secular society focuses primarily on Halloween, a time of reveling in and even poking fun at the more gruesome and normally terrifying aspects of death, the Church primarily focuses on All Saints’ Day and All Souls Day (also known as the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed). On All Saints’ Day, we remember those whom we typically think of as saints, those who have been canonized, or specifically declared a saint, by the Church. These include the likes of our patron St. Gregory the Great, and other big names such as St. Francis of Assisi, St. Patrick, the Blessed Virgin Mary, etc. On All Souls Day, we remember all the faithful departed—all the “ordinary” folks who have died. We remember our own loved ones who have entered into eternal life.

 

Some churches, including our own, combine All Saints’ Day and All Souls Day into one commemoration, remembering all the saints who have gone before—famous and ordinary, known and unknown. After all, in the truest sense, a saint is any faithful person—that is, all believers. In more recent times, the celebration of all these saints, both famous and ordinary, occurs on the Sunday immediately after All Saints’ Day, and is known as All Saints’ Sunday. Which brings us to today. So just why do we spend all this time and energy focusing on the saints who have gone before?

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