Advent Sunday Readings
Guest Post by Isabel Anders
“Christian community is the place where we keep the flame of hope alive among us and take it seriously so that it can grow and become stronger in us.” —Henri Nouwen.
Advent 2020 is almost upon us. As I once wrote (in Awaiting the Child: An Advent Journal), it is a time of narrowing down, focusing in as we prepare ourselves to begin the Christian Year again, at its cyclical starting point.
This year I have the privilege of sharing my new coauthored book Circle of Days with many friends and like-minded readers. It is the first of three planned “primers” that Paula Franck and I are writing; it treats the major themes and texts of the approaching Year B.
Paula and I have pointed out in our Introduction that a primer for the Church Year should first of all consider Scripture itself—the ongoing narrative of Jesus’ life in the Gospels and the supporting passages that take us through each year’s Holy Days and seasons.
Circle of Days offers succinct commentary on the readings for each Sunday and Holy Day that together form the core of our liturgical life in Christian community. We believe that a greater familiarity with this tapestry of many threads and promises can help to join our hearts when we meet in worship and lift our voices together.
Eugene H. Peterson has written: “Liturgy puts us to work along with all the others who have been and are being put to work in the world by and with Jesus following our spiritually-forming text. Liturgy keeps us in touch with all the action that has been and is being generated by the Spirit as given witness in the biblical text.”
As Advent arrives, let us turn to faithful watching and preparing—“as all creation holds its breath in the silent night and waits for the entry of something new and unimaginable” [Christopher Hill in Holidays and Holy Nights].
Now, in these challenging times—because the surprises and setbacks of this year have made it an especially difficult time for many … let us begin again …
Isabel Anders