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Dear
Cathedral Community,
“A prison
cell, in which one waits, hopes—and is completely dependent on the
fact that the door of freedom has to be opened from the outside—is
not a bad picture of Advent.”
—Dietrich
Bonhoeffer, God Is in the Manger
As
Bonhoeffer reminds us, Advent begins not with glitter or celebration,
but with longing. It begins in the quiet places where we wait
sometimes with hope, sometimes with uncertainty, and often with the
deep awareness that the freedom we seek must come from beyond
ourselves. Advent teaches us that God does not wait for us to find
our way out. God comes to us.
This
year, Advent begins on November 30th, the fourth Sunday before
Christmas Eve. As the nights grow longer and the world leans toward
winter, we enter this season as a people who
dare to hope. Hope not because the world is easy, but because Christ
comes into the very places we feel most
confined: our fears, our griefs, our unanswered questions, our
longing for healing, our desire for peace.
The
traditions we share lighting the Advent wreath, marking the days on
the Advent calendar, gathering in prayer and worship are beautiful
reminders that salvation comes as a gift. In the birth of Jesus
Christ, God breaks open the door from the outside, stepping into our
world with light, mercy, and love made flesh.
As a
community, I invite us to keep our minds and hearts centered on the
reason for the season: the coming Savior who brings hope to the
weary, comfort to the sorrowful, and courage to those seeking to
serve and love as Christ loves us.
May this
Advent be a season of deep reflection and renewed faith.
May we
wait with expectation.
May we
hope with trust.
And may
we open our lives to the One who is always drawing near.
Come,
Lord Jesus. In this season, make us ready for Your coming.
With
gratitude and peace,
Tim+
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A
Special Message Shared by The Reverend Siri Hauge Hustad
After
Annunciation
by
Madeleine L’Engle
This is
the irrational season
when
love blooms bright and wild.
Had
Mary been filled with reason
there’d
have been no room for the child.
—from A
Cry Like a Bell, 1987
According
to the Gospel of Luke, the announcement—the annunciation—made
by the archangel Gabriel to Mary revealed that she would conceive and
bear a son through a virgin birth and become the mother of Jesus
Christ, the Messiah and Son of God. It marks the moment of the
Incarnation… and it is a lot to place upon a young woman. In truth,
it is a lot to place upon anyone, old or young. It is completely
irrational if we really think about it.
Yet
there was Mary—full of grace, full of trust, and full of hope for the
fulfillment of the ancient promises spoken by the prophets (Micah
5:2; Jeremiah 23:5–6; Isaiah 11:1, to name a few).
The word
Advent simply means “coming.”
In our
Christian faith, it represents our celebration of the first coming of
Christ and our anticipation of his second coming. Lo and behold… it is
an irrational season! We are asked to “wait for” and “hope for” God’s
promises—faith and joy, peace and a new order.
But
first we wait for a child to be born… and then we wait for him to
grow… hoping that the prophets knew what they were talking about.
Christ
is working through us in this season.
Christ
is working through us each and every day.
Let us
take time to breathe in the divine strength offered through the Holy
Spirit. Let us share in Advent traditions—old and new. Let us “wait”
together and learn how to support one another in love. The love Mary
showed us through her patience, her belief, and her strength of
heart.
Our
Advent season in Minnesota is usually cold and very dark. As we await
the coming light with the solstice, let us gather as a community for
prayer, music, learning, and companionship—sharing
in grief, sharing in patience, sharing in hope, sharing in joy.
Soon we
will sing that hymn of holy waiting:
O
come, O come, Emmanuel,
and
ransom captive Israel,
that
mourns in lonely exile here
until
the Son of God appear.
And
we will rejoice!
In
Peace,
Tim+
The
Rev. Timothy M. Kingsley
Provost,
Saint Mark's Episcopal Cathedral
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