The Roman Catholic Church of St Clare in the Diocese of Lancaster

St Clare's News edition 1 - The Season of Advent

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THE SEASON OF ADVENT

If any Season in the Church’s year gets overlooked it is the Season of Advent. And that is such a pity. Advent is well and truly overshadowed by what I will call Commercial Christmas. Commercial Christmas begins usually around the end of September; that is when many of the retailers put Christmas stock on to the shelves in their stores, and hype gets greater and greater with the addition of decorations, carols played throughout the speaker system and the TV adverts. And this is all before December! But we can’t just blame retailers; we are all part of it: Christmas parties seem to get earlier and earlier, and so it goes on. And during this frenzy of activity poor old Advent hardly gets a sniff.

Christmas is that time when we should supremely focus in the feast of the Incarnation of God. This feast is second only in importance to Easter and is why, like Easter, it has a run up period for preparation.  Lent has that penitential air about it, Advent less so. It is more plaintive, reflective, or at least it would be if we managed to observe it.

In one regard we do heaps of preparation in Advent, but it is usually of the material kind: cards, presents, buying in provisions and booze. Oh yes, we know how to enter into that sort of period of preparation but what of the other sort? You will be ready come Christmas Day for the feasting and merrymaking with your families and friends, and rightly so. But just how prepared will we be greet Christ? It is his birthday, that is what all the fuss is about – at least for us who profess Christianity. We are called to a different preparation, a spiritual one. John the Baptist cries out in the liturgy: Prepare a way for the Lord, make straight his paths. How do we do that? Some extra quiet time in prayer, read a spiritual book, read the scriptures, visit a quite church – Fernyhalgh, Claughton, Scorton, even our own chapel; gently say the rosary in union with our Lady; go to the parish Advent Scripture Workshop. Be really bold and give yourself half a day at Hyning Hall or some other quiet place.