Advent
First thing these mornings of this Season of assurance and hope: war news updates. Israel cannot be allowed to fail, and if Ukraine is allowed to fail it will be only the beginning.
Nothing I can write, do, think or say affects the world order, hunger, homelessness, senselessness, greed, hatred in America, war in Ukraine & Israel/Gaza, selfishness, general hopelessness.
Nor can I quiet the sound of the Universe. The Universe as it expands. Expands into What? - - there's no answer, it's simply expansion, the Big Bang expanding as and into its illimitable self, ye-hi, the act of creation; not an imperative command, but permission, jussive, let there come to be, let there come into Being, and without necessarily dictating all the details.
An End Time theory is that in due course the Universe's expansion will slow, grind to a halt and cool down, eventually to absolute zero, the point at which matter cannot exist and there will be nothing again. Can there even be empty Space at absolute zero?
Perhaps an enormous space for gods or creatures from another Universe to discover, explore, maybe settle, perhaps beginning as a penal colony. Or simply because they need Lebensraum. Maybe in their own Time they will be able to pump heat in and restore the usefulness of the space that was our Universe?
A competing but somewhat nonsensical End Time theory is that the Universe will slow expanding, stop, and reverse, shrinking back into, supposedly, the single point from which it originally grew. Or maybe that will be the state at absolute zero: studying astronomy sixty years ago I read that Einstein said the Universe is finite, saddle-shaped, and that outside the Universe is nothing, not even space.
At any event, the expansion slowing and stopping in Time. Or, Space, actually, by then the Universe will be so inhospitable for life as we know it, that there will be no Beings around to perceive the End as happening in Time.
So I might as well just open and have a go at the lectionary for the upcoming Sunday, eh?
Just the collect, first lesson, and response. I'll omit the second reading, leave the Gospel reading to the preacher and just look at the other - - "propers" is what we call them.
The "propers" and the "ordinary." The "ordinary" of the Mass is the fixed liturgical stuff, the "propers" are the parts that vary according to the occasion, most commonly the Sunday itself, different propers for each Sunday. This coming Sunday being, for example, Advent 3, Year A, and the Propers that the authorities have appointed for the day consist of Proper Readings (collect, first lesson, responsive psalm or canticle, second lesson, gospel) and the Proper Preface, a line the Celebrant says as s/he reads the eucharistic prayer during the worship liturgy leading into the Sanctus:
The "proper preface" for Advent goes,
Because you sent your beloved Son to redeem us from sin and death, and to make us heirs in him of everlasting life; that when he shall come again in power and great triumph to judge the world, we may without shame or fear rejoice to behold his appearing. (BCP p.378).
When HE shall come again? At HIS appearing? Who says so? Who comes again may be an African Lady next Time, as in Clayton Sullivan's "Miss Jesus and the Sweet Pilgrim Baptist Church"
And here's the Collect for the Day (a collect is a short prayer classically consisting of three parts: an address to God - - in which may be discerned a theological assertion about God - - a petition, and a closing, usually in the Name of the Trinity. As it omits the Address, this Sunday's proper is not in classical format, skips the opening address and cuts to the petition:
Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.
Notice the "Stir up." "Stir up" has become a custom of the Season. In our earlier prayer book the Sunday that we now observe as Christ the King Sunday was titled The Sunday next before Advent, and the collect for the day went like this:
STIR up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may by thee be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
It was said that "stir up Sunday" was the day the ladies (sorry, but this was old Time) went home from church and stirred up the batter and candied fruits to bake their fruit cakes for the holiday season - - see, not to over explain, but the magical words "stir up" and "fruit of good works" - - . I myself was a participant in my growing up years, being the one summoned to the kitchen to stir as Mama made fruit cakes, baked in loaf tins. I don't remember minding the arm-tiring work and I do remember loving the fruit cakes!
Further about this Sunday's collect, not to be picky, but I have to be honest and say that I do not feel sorely hindered by my sins, although the rest of you should, and the world at large certainly should but does not.
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The Old Testament lesson
Old Testament
Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11
The spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me;
he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,
to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and release to the prisoners;
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor,
and the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all who mourn;
to provide for those who mourn in Zion—
to give them a garland instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord, to display his glory.
They shall build up the ancient ruins,
they shall raise up the former devastations;
they shall repair the ruined cities,
the devastations of many generations.
For I the Lord love justice,
I hate robbery and wrongdoing;
I will faithfully give them their recompense,
and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
Their descendants shall be known among the nations,
and their offspring among the peoples;
all who see them shall acknowledge
that they are a people whom the Lord has blessed.
I will greatly rejoice in the LORD,
my whole being shall exult in my God;
for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation,
he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
For as the earth brings forth its shoots,
and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up,
so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise
to spring up before all the nations.
Returning from Babylonian Exile, the promise that The Land will be fully restored to its former glory. Somehow it calls to mind the Suffering Servant Songs earlier in Isaiah, that now all that suffering is ended. For Christians it calls up Jesus reading in the synagogue, understood as his self-reflective proclamation that God's future for humanity has come true in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, an apt reading for Advent.
The Response
Psalm 126
In convertendo
1 When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, *
then were we like those who dream.
2 Then was our mouth filled with laughter, *
and our tongue with shouts of joy.
3 Then they said among the nations, *
"The Lord has done great things for them."
4 The Lord has done great things for us, *
and we are glad indeed.
5 Restore our fortunes, O Lord, *
like the watercourses of the Negev.
6 Those who sowed with tears *
will reap with songs of joy.
7 Those who go out weeping, carrying the seed, *
will come again with joy, shouldering their sheaves.
An affirming response to the Isaiah reading. Coming out of Exile, the people rejoice that they have been restored to God's favor.
Canticle 15
The Song of Mary Magnificat
Luke 1:46-55
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; *
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed: *
the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him *
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm, *
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, *
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things, *
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel, *
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our fathers, *
to Abraham and his children for ever.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
An alternative response to the Isaiah reading is Mary's song of rejoicing that God is redeeming Israel through her pregnancy and the mission of the infant Jesus whom she is to deliver to the world. It's appropriate liturgically as the Pink Candle is lit on the Advent Wreath because the third Sunday of Advent is Rose Sunday, Rejoice Sunday. Contrary to the erroneous view that the pink candle is because Mary was hoping for a girl.
Advent: he comes. RSF & PTL.
T88&c