FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT 2016

Written on: November 22, 2016

Darkness comes early now. The stores have been reminding us that Christmas is near since before Halloween. The lyrics of the song of Simon and Garfunkel easily lead us into the season of advent.

And so we begin—

“Hello darkness my old friend, I’ve come to talk with you again

because a vision softly creeping 

Left its seeds while I was sleeping 

And the vision that was planted still remains 

Within the sounds of silence”.

Advent comes now and the first Sunday of Advent is the darkest Sunday of all. We are preparing ourselves for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas.

We wait.

It is not a waiting with no movement. The scriptures for this first Sunday of Advent are filled with movement. (as we wait)

“ Let us walk in the light of the Lord;”
 “ Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.”           “Let us throw off the works of darkness and put on the armour of light.”     

We watch.

The scriptures unfold and we take time to wonder. Perhaps we think of the readings during the day and put ourselves in the situation and watch ourselves.  We may find it easier to pray in a more conversational and personal  encounter with the Lord. What will we say? It’s comfortable so go for it and watch what happens.

We Pray.

Advent is in many ways a woman’s time. The woman central to this time is the girl called Mary. The story of this is found in the words of the Angelus a prayer which embodies the Hail Mary in its recitation. Our prayer is one of praise.

We Proclaim

We talk, we sing, we prepare, and in all the hectic preparations we listen to the sounds of silence.

“The vision that was planted in my brain still remains within the sounds of silence.”  The words of the prophet are written on the subway walls and tenement halls and whispered in the sounds of silence.” 

We proclaim.

As we begin Advent let us

WAIT

WATCH 

PRAISE 

PROCLAIM

ADVENT 2016. Sister Maureen Quigley, with gratitude to Simon and Garfunkel for the inspiration.

Sister Maureen Quigley enjoys sharing her thoughts with anyone who listens, and those who do choose to listen are often grateful for her wisdom and her humor.  Although retired from teaching, she seizes opportunities to help bring others to God through her words, written and spoken, and her engaging personality.

This entry was posted in Matters of Faith and tagged: Advent, Hail Mary, Mary, movement, Nativity of Jesus, praise, prepare, proclaim, scriptures, sing, sounds of silence, talk, wait, watch, woman's time