This is the Fourth Sunday of Advent. We now have all four candles of our Advent wreath lit in anticipation of lighting the candle in the middle … the Christ candle … on Christmas Eve. And, on this Fourth Sunday of Advent we pay particular attention to the Magnificat … the Song of Mary. We first sang the Song of Mary as our Hymn of Praise; then we recited it as a canticle instead of reciting a Psalm; and then finally heard its origin in the reading from a portion the Gospel of Luke. There seems to be something about the Song of Mary on this Fourth Sunday of Advent … you would think that someone was trying to make a point.
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In 2003 Rabbi Robert Levine wrote a book, “There is No Messiah, and You’re It.” He begins the first chapter with a story of a Seder that his synagogue shared with a neighboring Baptist church … a Christian denomination learning about and participating in a Jewish ritual. At the Seder a ten year old girl approached Rabbi Levine and asked him why no one had been drinking from one of the cups of wine. “We leave the cup,” Rabbi Levine explained, “hoping that Elijah will come down from Heaven and join our Seder. That is why we leave the door open.”
This is the Second Sunday of the Church’s Advent season. In this season where we begin our liturgy with the lighting of the Advent wreath we anticipate the Feast of the Incarnation … Christmas … by bringing light to Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love. This Sunday we lit the candles for Hope, and then Peace … peace in a world torn by violence.
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November 2024
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