LITURGY

First Sunday of  Advent

    WORD OF GOD
Return, for the sake of your servants,
the tribes of your inheritance.
Oh, that you would tear the heavens open
and come down.
(Isaiah 63:17; 64:1)


 WORDS FOR WORSHIP
In the words our saviour gave us, let us pray that we may be found ready and waiting for the coming of God’s kingdom on earth...Our Father...
 

WORD FOR TODAY
If we claim to hold true to the values that Christ taught, then we should long for the coming of Jesus and the establishing of God’s kingdom on earth. Advent invites us to stay awake and vigilant, living by the standards we profess.

FAITH IN FOCUS: THE GRINCH WHO STOLE ADVENT
Everyone knows Christmas is on its way. The shops are full of it and commercials on TV are already beginning to drive us to distraction. But never mind, the holiday adverts and the sales announcements on Boxing Day will soon be on their way.
Yes, Christmas is on its way. But that’s the point: it’s on its way; it’s not here yet and before it arrives we have the wonderfully rich season of Advent to celebrate.
Waiting to go on holiday can be almost as much fun as actually going. Preparations for a wedding add to the excitement of the day itself. And if your team reaches the final, it’s the thrill of the knockout rounds that makes the day all the more enjoyable.
The Sundays of Advent lead us along a path of anticipation, expectation, preparation and longing. They remind us that the more we spiritually get ready for Christmas the more we will be in a mood to celebrate it at its deeper levels. However, if the next three or four weeks are filled with nothing but buying presents and stocking the fridge, then our Christmas will be nothing but secular: it will come and go.
Advent proclaims that Christ comes into our world and our lives. Really comes. We know he came once as a baby. We know he will come again at the end of time. But he comes in so many different ways in our workaday lives. So Advent is the season when we recharge our batteries to stay awake, watching for the myriad people and situations that Jesus uses to reveal himself to us and to ask for our response.
In our modern society it’s impossible to escape jumping the Christmas gun. Office Christmas parties have already started and Nativity Plays and Carol Services will fight with Advent for pride of place. But throughout all of this let’s not forget what Advent offers us: the chance to examine ourselves on how welcoming we are when Jesus comes to us through other people and their needs, and the opportunity to express our sense of yearning for God’s kingdom to be extended through our war-torn world.
Stay awake, says Jesus. And make sure the grinch doesn’t steal Advent as well!
 

 

TO CONTACT US: OUR LADY OF LOURDES FLEMING FIELD SHOTTON  COLLIERY DURHAM DH6 2JQ