PUT JESUS FIRST: WEEK FOUR
Welcome to Advent! November 25-December 2: Now is the time to focus on the themes of Advent, and the first one is HOPE.
Some of what you do this week will be predicated by your family’s traditions. Some families put up their Christmas trees the first week of Advent, while others wait until Christmas Eve. At the end of this guide is a blessing for the Christmas tree; whenever you put it up, make sure that you gather the family and say the blessing before you decorate it.
Hope and waiting go hand in hand. Waiting is difficult! We expect everything to be at our fingertips the moment we have the desire for it. It's a world that we're all growing into, and it's addicting. We live in a world of easy downloads, instantaneous email, entertainment on-demand, and food prepared in a few minutes. Yet God finds ways of making us wait.
Advent is about faith and waiting. What are you waiting on God for this year? Remember the years of silence as God's people waited for the Messiah. Take time today, right now, to reflect on the fact that God's timing is quite different from ours.
What to do this week:
This is the week to wrap and mail Christmas gifts that are going to friends and family far away. There won’t be long lines at the post office, and you’ll be secure in the knowledge that everything was received in good time to be placed under other people’s trees. This is also the week to find out from your children’s school(s) what will be required of you for the season. Many schools have holiday parties to which you’ll want to contribute. Find out all the specifics so there’s no panic the night before (“But Mom, I said I’d bring three dozen cookies!”) Family activities: o This is the beginning of a new year. Create a decorative graffiti poster of things you have faith God will do for you in the coming year. This is a great time to teach your children about the concept of faith. Display it in a prominent place in your home.
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o Encourage someone you know who is weary of waiting. Remind them of God's promises.
In fact, the best way to have the best Advent ever is to make of many of the activities a family ritual. Many of the Advent activities we suggested you think about lend themselves to the family gathering and “performing” them together: the lighting of the Advent wreath, the placing of the elements of your nativity scene, the decorating of the Christmas tree. These gestures are not meaningful in and of themselves; we are the ones to imbue them with meaning. By creating memorable activities around Advent, you’re giving a lasting gift to your children, who will be able to pass them on in turn.
This week’s theme is hope, and there are a number of activities that you can do. Sit together and have everyone write down what they hope for in life. Is it world peace? A good job? Joining a sports team? Taking a class? We hope for many things in life, and looking at what it is that we hope for helps us grow as individuals. What are your hopes for your family? Write them all down on bits of paper and put them into a jar with the label HOPE on it. You can revisit them next year and see if any of them have come true, or if you changed the things that you hope for.
Putting Jesus first, this first week of Advent, means keeping hope alive in our hearts. We hope that the coming of Christ into our world will sanctify that world, and that we can be the instruments of God’s hope for humanity.
Try and make a practice of praying together every evening. It’s not always possible, life gets in the way; but if you try to do it every night, then you will end up doing it more often than if you just sit back and see when it’s convenient. One excellent practice is to light the candles on your Advent wreath together every night.
The Advent Wreath
The Advent wreath is circular: it has no beginning and no end, reminding us both of God’s unending love for us and of the gift of his Son Jesus, who said that he was the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. Many Advent wreaths
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are made of fresh evergreens, representing a sign of life in a lifeless winter. They point to new life and the hope of eternal life that we find in Christ.
The five candles contrast darkness and light. They are lit in succession, one more each week as we count the Sundays in Advent, waiting for Christ's birth, the wreath getting brighter and brighter as we move closer and closer to the light. We are also reminded of those who waited thousands of years for the Messiah. Three of the candles are purple, the traditional color of royalty and of penitence, used in the seasons of preparation. On Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, a fifth candle— the Christ candle—can be lit. Jesus is the light of the world, and the darkness has not put that light out.
Candle one (purple) represents hope. It is often called the prophets’ candle. Candle two (purple) represents peace. It is often called the angels’ candle. Candle three (pink) represents joy. It is often called the shepherds’ candle. Candle four (purple) represents love. It is often called the Bethlehem candle. Many advent wreaths also include a Christ candle in the middle of the wreath.
As you light the candles, note both the increasing light as we draw closer to the Light of the World, and also pay attention to the theme of that week.
Advent Wreath, Week One of Advent
Involve your whole family in the prayers and readings of the Advent wreath. Assign different parts to different family members ahead of time. Once the candle has been lit for this first Sunday in Advent, then do this reading based on Genesis 1:1-5:
Person A: In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep.
Person B: A wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, "Let there be light."
Person C: And there was light. And God saw that the light was good.
Person D: God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night.
All: And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
Prayer for the week Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to prepare the way for our salvation, as we light this candle and begin this new Advent season, shine the light of your hope into our hearts and into our world, give us grace to heed the words of the prophets, to live in hope of the coming of Christ, not just as a baby in Bethlehem but also at the end of time. Amen. Our Father…
Reading for the week The kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall offer gifts; the kings of Arabia and Seba shall bring tribute. All kings shall pay him homage, all nations shall serve him. (Psalms 72:10-11)
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