The Season of Advent Begins November 28
Advent begins with these words: “Almighty God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which thy son, Jesus Christ, came to visit us in great humility.”
Using this Advent prayer as an example, in just a few words, the essence of the Advent Season is captured and our hearts are stirred, “casting away the works of darkness and putting on us the armor of light.”
This coming Sunday begins a New Year. The Christian year begins on Sunday, Nov. 28. The long season of Pentecost has finally ended and the cycle (of the church year) begins again, telling us the story of who we are, what we are, and whose we are.
Something is coming! That is what the word “advent” means. And, what is coming, what proclaims the Season of Advent, is the light of Christ. That is the comfort of Advent. The challenge of Advent is that it has not yet come, not fully, not again. In the meantime, we are left pretty much in the dark, and the dark is in us.
Cast away the works of darkness, we pray. Liberate us from the darkness that surrounds us and that is within us. That becomes our Advent prayer. Put upon us the armor of light, we pray. I want to walk as a child of the light—the light of Christ. Shine in my heart, Lord Jesus.
The Season of Advent stands between the fact of darkness that we know so well and the light (of Christ) for which we pray. Between the fact and the hope, that is where we live much of the time.
Pray with me that we become “light bearers,” not only in the days of Advent, but every day. Our “job” is to light our candles and let them shine; to watch and pray for He who is to come—for the One who has come and will come again.
