By Canon Philip Gillespie

​​

Advent, our “Purple Days” which lead up to Christmas and the Christmas season, are special days of preparation and expectation. Yet they do sometimes run the risk of being swallowed up in the rush to get things in for 25 December and the celebration of the civil new year on 1 January.

​

That is not to say that we should turn our back on the more practical concerns of gift and food shopping. We keep these days of the Christmas season as a rich time when we share good things with family, friends and loved ones – not forgetting, of course, those who may have no-one with whom they can share the days, those for whom the turkey or pudding (or even the sprouts!) are beyond their means to put on the table. The work of the SVP, the food banks and the other good Samaritans of our day are as much in demand – if not more so – at this time of the year.

 

But back to Advent: this is the season of the Church’s year in which we find ourselves at the moment, a time when the Church looks forward to the glorious second coming of the Lord. He is the adventus, the one who is to come. Indeed, only from the 17 December do we move to readings and prayers in the Liturgy which speak of stars or stables or shepherds.

​

It is a delicate balancing act, a combination of past (what happened in Bethlehem those 2,000 years ago); present (I am experiencing this in the year 2025 with all its joys and hopes as well as pains and worries); and future (I am looking forward to that day when all will be fulfilled and brought to perfection in the Second Coming of Christ).

 

Each year we may find ourselves laying greater emphasis on a particular aspect or indeed character of the Christmas story, and it is worth giving ourselves that little bit of peace, that little space, to reflect on these great events.