Advent Hope

Advent services from Lichfield Cathedral
Advent Sunday to Sunday before Christmas (29th Nov, 6th Dec, 13th Dec, 20th Dec)
BBC1 9.30am

Advent - the beginning of the Church year. A time for reflection on what has happened in the previous year, so a time for saying sorry too, and for new resolutions, so a time for hope. The name comes from the Latin ad venire meaning 'to come' or 'to arrive'. It is significant that this season comes at the darkest time of the year, and that in many traditions an Advent wreath is prepared with a candle lit each week until Christmas.

This year, as part of the BBC's preparations for Christmas, there has been a series of Sunday morning services broadcast from Lichfield Cathedral (Anglican) reflecting on different aspects of hope: hope for the world, hope for justice and peace, hope for healing and reconciliation, hope fulfilled in the coming of Jesus.

Whether or not you have managed to see the programmes, you may like to use some of these quotations from the second and third services in the series either to help in a discussion about Advent and the role it plays in the Christian year, or about what Christians believe in, or just to aid your own reflections.

ABOUT ADVENT

"The future is always unknown; from one point of view we always seem to be travelling into the dark. But the Advent message is that the God who is Lord of past, present and future, has unveiled his plans in Jesus Christ. So, despite the darkness, we journey step by step in confident hope."
(Dean of Lichfield)

"Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness and put on the armour of light, now in the time of this life, in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; So that, at the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal."
(The Book of Common Prayer, published in 1662)

HOPE FOR THE NATIONS - JUSTICE AND PEACE:
Some reflections from the Dean of Lichfield, the Very Revd Dr Tom Wright.

The Magnificat, Mary's great song of joy and justice (Luke 1:46-55 ) is sung during the service. The Dean mentions that Mary was probably a teenager when Jesus was born and describes the Magnificat as having "all the fierce simplicity of a child's game, cutting through the fog and fuzz of adult compromises and speaking the truth the world needs to hear. Think of it now as a child's song, a skipping song, and hear singing in the background all the children in the world who so desperately need justice and peace..."

Lichfield Cathedral has a military chapel. In talking about how military action can be reconciled with the Christian message, the Dean says... "the Church's vocation has never been to stand on the sidelines when people are out there bearing the burden of standing up to tyrants and protecting the helpless. Our task is to be there where the world is in pain, to be in prayer where the world is in pain, so that the love of God may be brought to bear on the world that needs it so much."

Readings used:
- Isaiah 11 (prediction of the Messiah who would come to save the people)
- Ephesians 2:13-18 Paul explains how Jesus brought peace and reconciliation
- HOPE FOR HUMANITY: Healing and Reconciliation

Some of the Advent readings talk about the coming of a new and better age. For many people who have lives made miserable through bad health or conditions, the idea of a future golden age can be very attractive , but the Dean here talks about the variety of ways in which Christian healing can take place - not always as expected.

"I know of people, and many of you will too, who are alive today quite simply because God healed them when the doctors had given them up. Equally, I know people, as you will, who longed for God's healing and didn't find it, at least not in the ways they wanted. Or again, sometimes God's healing will provide the power to hope, to go on living, within what had seemed a hopeless situation.... His Spirit can go down to the roots of our being and bring refreshment and peace. And often this strange healing goes hand in hand with wider reconciliation - peace with ourselves, peace with others, peace with God. We can't explain all this, or rationalise it, and we certainly can't predict or control it. But those who have witnessed God at work in these ways can't doubt it either."

Readings used:
- Isaiah 35:1-6, 10
- Matthew 11:2-5

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