My Blog

Tag: Expectation

  • What I am Giving God This Year – My Undivided Attention

    Advent_candle“’Tis the Season!” You may wonder why I’m just getting around to saying this inasmuch as our shopping malls have been displaying Christmas merchandise since Halloween, reminding us that it is the season for gift-giving.

    When we worship during Advent, we are reminded of the reason for the season. Our custom of gift-giving originated in our attempt to emulate God who gives himself to us. But, it is easy to forget to put God on our gift lists. After all, isn't the One who has given us the one necessary gift worthy to receive a response from us? So, I’m going to concentrate on what I’m giving to God this year and I especially want to give God my undivided attention.

    To say that I am giving God my undivided attention doesn’t mean that I am supposed to find a hermitage somewhere and leave this life behind. It means that in the midst of everyday activities I need to be alert to the One who is looking for me through those events and guiding my response to them.

    Advent is about those long centuries of waiting for the promised Messiah. Advent is about the thrill of knowing that promise has been fulfilled. Advent is about the expectation that the Messiah will come again to take us unto himself. But mainly, Advent is about watching and waiting for his appearance in the present moment.

    Jesus said, "Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come" (Mk. 13:33).

    A tourist stepped into the beautifully kept garden of the Castle Asconti in northern Italy. He encountered the gardener and asked when the owner was last there. “Twelve years ago,” the gardener said. The tourist then observed, “But you keep the grounds as though your master was coming back tomorrow.” The gardener quickly replied, “Today, sir. Today.”

    A Christian watches and works as though the Master will return this very day because he does. He greets us in the mystery of Word and Sacrament on Sunday morning and at the intersection of the highways we travel on Wednesday afternoon. In this sense, as in the ultimate sense, his coming into our lives is something to which we should look forward. That merits my undivided attention.

    Collect for the First Sunday of Advent

    Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

    Blessings,

    Ron Short Blue Sig Cropped

     

     

     

     

    The Very Rev'd Ron Pogue
    Interim Rector
    St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church
    Keller, Texas

  • Finding a Balance in Advent

    It’s Advent. Advent is hard to observe in our culture, isn’t it? StA Advent

    The Church tells us Advent is a period of preparation for the Feast of the Incarnation, Christmas. Our faith tradition encourages us to make it a reflective time during which we identify with those who waited long centuries for the appearing of God’s anointed one. The liturgy for the Sundays and weekdays in Advent directs our attention to the wonderful gift that has come to us in Emmanuel and the promise that he will come again at the end to establish his victorious reign over all things.

    Yet, here we are again with all those sights and sounds and smells that tell us it is time to be the world’s most accomplished consumers. Our culture encourages us to believe that the things we need and the things our loved ones need to make their lives complete can be bought for a price, and quite possibly must be acquired if life is to be worth living. The liturgy of advertising and shopping malls directs our attention to the near frenzy involved in getting there while supplies last.

    I’m not really suggesting that we should not buy gifts or support our local merchants and workforce who work so hard and rely so heavily on sales at this season. I enjoy going to the mall and listening to the music in the stores. I like to shop for presents and believe it is a good thing to be thoughtful and generous with others as God in Christ has been thoughtful and generous with us in offering us his very life.

    What I am suggesting is that the spiritual dimension of the season can easily be overshadowed. We need to find a balance and the Church can help. Go to the mall, after you’ve gone to church. Buy gifts, after you’ve left your gift at the Altar. Spend time shopping for the perfect gift, after you’ve spent time in communion with the most perfect gift, Christ the Savior. And then, after have a wonderful, peaceful, and blessed Christmas!

    How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given!
    So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of his heaven.
    No ear may hear his coming, but in this world of sin,
    Where meek souls will receive him, still the dear Christ enters in.

    "O Little Town of Bethlehem"
    The Rt. Rev. Philips Brooks (1835-1839)

    I'll see you in Church!

    Ron Short Blue Sig Cropped 28

     

     

     

     

    The Very Reverend Ronald D. Pogue
    Interim Dean
    St. Andrew’s Cathedral
    Jackson, Mississippi

    P.S. Maybe some of your family and friends would appreciate an alternative Christmas gift, a contribution in their honor to a worthy cause. Alternative Christmas Cards are available at St. Andrew's before and after services and at the Welcome Desk during the week.

     

     

     

  • Why Blue for Advent?

    The Season of Advent Advent Starry Night 2

    The word “Advent” is derived from the Latin Adventus, which means “coming” or “arrival.” It is the season of preparation for the celebration of the Birth of Jesus Christ, God’s Messiah. Advent has been observed in the Western churches, since about the fifth century C.E.. Advent begins the liturgical year and includes the time from the fourth Sunday before Christmas, until Christmas. The first Sunday of Advent is always the Sunday nearest the feast of St. Andrew the Apostle, November 30th, and always falls between November 27th  and December 3rd.

    The Color for the Season

    For centuries, the season of Advent was observed as a penitential season. Sometimes, it was even referred to as the “Little Lent.” And, following the pattern of Lent, the designation of the four Sundays of the season were Sundays “in” Advent rather than Sundays “of” Advent. Also, as in Lent, the color violet or purple was the seasonal color. 

    During the ecumenical liturgical reforms of the 1960’s and 1970’s, a strong consensus emerged that Advent should be a season of hope and anticipation, rather than penitence. As the new lectionaries were developed, the Sunday readings reflected those themes. Many churches sought a different seasonal color. Liturgical leaders were drawn to the color blue, which was used in the ancient Sarum rite (Salisbury, England). In subsequent years, use of the color blue has become widespread during Advent. Blue symbolizes hope, confidence, anticipation and expectation, all adjectives that describe the season of Advent.

    The Advent Wreath Candles

    Use of the Advent Wreath entered our observance of the season during the last century. The wreath 4_blue_candles_by_blood_huntressconsists of four candles, one of which is lighted on each of the four Advent Sundays. As the days grow shorter and the nights grow longer, we light more candles until we celebrate the birth of the Light of the World on December 25, symbolized by a larger white candle in the center of the wreath.

    When purple or violet was the seasonal color, that was the choice of color for the hangings, vestments, and Advent Wreath candles. However, rose, a lighter shade of purple, was often used on the third Sunday.  Rose was thought to be representative of a less penitential theme for that Sunday, on which the first word of the Introit was “Rejoice.” Now that Advent is no longer observed as a primarily penitential season, the candles are blue and there is no need for a rose candle to suggest that we  “lighten up.”

    I invite you to take time in this season of Advent to prepare your heart and mind in new ways for the news of the birth of Jesus Christ, God With Us.

    Ron Short Sig Blue

     

     

     

     

    The Very Reverend Ronald D. Pogue

     

     

  • What moves you?

    Mark uses miracle stories in his gospel to illustrate a point the way Matthew and Luke use parables for that purpose in theirs.  Jesus’ cleansing of a leper as recorded in Mark 1:40-45 is an example.

    A man who was afflicted with leprosy confronted Jesus.  The leper broke the code of ceremonial cleanliness just by speaking to Jesus.  It was a very bold thing to do.  Here is one who is considered unclean and wretched by his people because he has contracted a hideous disease.  Leprosy represented sin to the people of Jesus’ day and, like sin, it was considered contagious, more to be cleansed than healed. 

    A leper was banished from the community and had to dwell alone or with other lepers outside the community.  This man had to go about with torn clothes, bared head, and a covering upon his upper lip.  As he went, he was required to give warning of his polluted presence with the cry, “Unclean! Unclean!”  The leper had not only to bear the physical pain of his disease, he had to bear the mental anguish and heartbreak of being completely banished from human society and totally shunned.  So, it is incredible that he would approach Jesus at all, let alone dare to speak to him.

    Even more remarkable than that is the fact that Jesus responded to him as he did.  He could have run away.  He could have had the leper killed.  He could have reacted with horror.  But he didn’t.  Instead, we are told in the story that his response was one of compassion and understanding.  Jesus was “moved with pity.”  He broke the code and defiled himself when he reached out and touched the leper.  In so doing, his power over evil was demonstrated by a miraculous cure.  He broke the law and, at the same time, he fulfilled it.

    Then he sent the man to the priest and in so doing placed before the religious establishment a difficult problem.  Only the priest could certify the cure.  To reject it would be to break the code.  To accept it would be to acknowledge Jesus’ power and authority.  To make matters even worse, this cleansed leper couldn’t keep all of this to himself, even though Jesus had asked him to. Is it any surprise?

    In this miracle story, we see that it was Jesus’ nature to be moved by the sight of human need.  But sympathy isn’t worth a dime unless it leads to action.  Jesus was first moved to pity, then to action.  He continues to be moved to compassion and he still reaches out and touches those in need of help.  People who have experienced this compassionate power find themselves moved.  They become enthusiastic about life and they glorify God in whatever they do.

    I recently streamed the movie Bad News Bears.  It had been years since the last time I watched it.  There is a character in the movie named Lupus.  Lupus is a little boy who had a runny nose all the time and was smaller than the others.  He had learned to stay in the background because that’s where everyone else told him he belonged.  One day, some boys on another team put ketchup in his hat and slapped it back on his head.  One of his teammates took both of them on in defense of Lupus.  He lost the fight, but afterwards, Lupus said to him, “You’re the first person who ever took up for me.”  A short time later, the coach sent Lupus in to play during the championship game and he actually caught a fly ball.  Nothing could ever stop Lupus again because someone finally believed in him.  That gave him the courage to get out of the background and take his God-given place as a full-fledged member of the team.

    Like the story of the cleansing of the leper, the story of Lupus is a miracle story.  It tells us what can happen on an infinitely greater plane when Jesus Christ touches a human life.  His touch tells us that he believes in us and when we know that touch, we’ll never be the same.  We’ll have a new perspective on life, a new confidence in ourselves, and a new ability to reach out to others, especially those who have been pushed into the background, marginalized, and condemned.

    Today is a good day to keep my eyes open to watch for a miracle.  Today is a good day to experience a miracle for myself.  Today is a good day to help a miracle happen for someone else. God, let me live today in miraculous expectation!

    Ron Short Sig Blue

     

     

     

     

    P.S.  That leper could have written this hymn!  Maybe the fact that the tune is not as familiar to American ears will help you listen to the words a little more carefully.