Advent is a season of endings and beginnings. As the calendar year comes to a close, a new church year rushes in. Christ’s birth ushers us into new ways of living and loving—and yet, we feel the weight of many things coming to an end. The world as we know it spins madly on. This year, Advent begins as another election season in the US comes to a close. What are the reminders we will need in order to move faithfully through this threshold?
This Advent series is filled with the words we need to hear again and again as we begin a new season. Imagine what words Mary would speak to her newborn son. What scriptures and stories would she impart to him? What lessons would she teach him as he grew? And so, our weekly themes may feel like the lessons we teach to children, but in reality, these are lessons we continue to learn and relearn as adults. They may sound like the messages or homilies we impart to loved ones during special ceremonies or sacred rituals. You are invited to enter this Advent season as if you are entering a sacred new chapter, holding fast to the reminders that will bolster you for the journey ahead.
In many ways, pregnant Mary was surrounded by endings—large and small, personal and political. And yet, Mary proclaimed hope in a God who was and is making all things new. As we also move through new personal and political chapters, may these words for the beginning renew us and remind us of the ways we are called to live out our faith. No matter what you are facing, no matter what this new day brings, let love be your beginning.
Theme materials produced by A Sanctified Art, Copyright 2024, All rights reserved. Purchased and used by permission.
