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Tag: God With Us

  • 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

     

     

  • Word Made Flesh – The Toughest and Tenderest Love

    It is a happy coincidence that the commemoration of St. Ambrose, the fourth century Bishop of Milan, occurs during the Advent season on December 7.  I say that because one of the chief contributions of Bishop Ambrose was his defense of Athanasian (orthodox) Christianity against Arianism.  Athanasians affirm that the Logos or Word (John 1:1) is fully God in the same sense that the Father is, while Arians affirm that the Logos is a creature, the first being created by the Father.  So it is appropriate that his feast day occurs during the season in which we are preparing for the coming of the Messiah because Bishop Ambrose helps us better understand what kind of Messiah we are talking about.

    Ambrose may have written the Athanasian Creed (BCP p. 864), the first creed in which the equality of the three persons of the Trinity is explicitly stated.  Whether he wrote it or not, it is consistent with his theology:

    And the Catholic Faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity, neither confounding the Persons, nor dividing the Substance.  For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost.  But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, is all one, the Glory equal, the Majesty co-eternal.

    The Messiah who came as a little child and died on a cross as a man is not just a messenger.  He is Emmanuel, God With Us in the flesh.  That was as incomprehensible a Mystery in the first and fourth centuries as it is today – the Word that was in the beginning, the Word that was with God, the Word that was God, “became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son; full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).  The proof of it is a matter of faith.  This Word Made Flesh, Jesus, the Messiah, matters so much to us because he is the ultimate expression of God’s eternal love for us.

    His entire life demonstrates to us that God’s love does not shrink in the face of tragedy, injustice, exploitation, and alienation. Love Divine embraces everything that happens to human beings from birth to death. God With Us heals brokenness, overcomes oppression, and reconciles estrangement.  There is no love in the universe that is tougher or more tender!

    A meditation attributed to Bishop Ambrose beautifully expresses what God’s love means to us in these words: “Lord Jesus Christ, you are for me medicine when I am sick; you are my strength when I need help; you are life itself when I fear death; you are the way when I long for heaven; you are light when all is dark; you are my food when I need nourishment.”

    Ron Short Sig Blue