First Sunday of Advent - A time of expectation

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... you are waiting for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed  

(1 Corinthians 1:3-9)


Advent is a time of expectation, of waiting. Waiting for what, for whom?  St Paul says ‘for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed'; but will we recognize Jesus when he comes? The names ‘Jesus', or ‘Christ', or ‘Lord' trip easily off the tongue, though their meaning can be elusive. Just who is Jesus for us?  


Pope Francis said at the beginning of his papacy that he wants everyone to have a renewed encounter with Christ in their lives. It is not enough just to belong to the Church.  We need to know why we are in the Church in the first place.  We need to believe as well as belong. What keeps us going to church week after week or, perhaps more to the point, what has stopped us from going to church?


Our empty, and half-empty, churches during the pandemic have become pointers to the emptiness, perhaps, of our relationship with Christ in the Church. They leave us with a question. Indeed, many are predicting that after the pandemic a good number will have decided to stop going to church altogether. They may have come to the realization they don't need a large building to find God in.


It is said that we now live in a society of ‘dwellers' and ‘seekers'. Dwellers are those who are content with their lot, religiously or otherwise. Seekers are those for whom life is a journey; and the seekers outnumber the dwellers. It is a statistical fact that there are very few card-carrying atheists, those who are sure that God does not exist and for whom the issue is closed. Most have within them a question about the meaning of their lives, most are searching. As St Augustine said about human beings many years ago, ‘the heart is restless'.  Restlessness, questioning, doubt - these are all part of the human condition.


Now is a good time - wherever we happen to be in terms of religious belief or unbelief - to ask ourselves that most fundamental question of all, Why is there something rather than nothing?  And following on from that, Why am I here?  To our surprise, we may encounter Christ. Be open to the God of surprises this Advent.


***

A meditation written by Fr Paul Graham, OSA, Assistant General on the Augustinian Council for Northern Europe, including the Provinces of Ireland, England & Scotland, Poland, Germany, Austria and Slovakia

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Community prayer

Nativity Prayer of St Augustine

Let the just rejoice, for their Justifier is born. Let the sick and infirm rejoice, for their Savior is born. Let the captives rejoice, for their Redeemer is born. Let slaves rejoice, for their Master is born. Let free men rejoice, for their Liberator is born. Let all Christians rejoice, for Jesus Christ is born. St Augustine of Hippo (AD 354-440)

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Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer everyone. Col 4:6

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