Advent ushers in new year
By Fabvienen Taylor
JACKSON — Each year Catholics celebrate the start of two new years.
Celebrations of bright lights and cheers beamed across the globe will, on Wednesday, Dec. 31, herald the secular New Year — 2009.
A month prior to that on Sunday, Nov. 30, Catholics celebrate the beginning — Advent — of a new liturgical year ( Jesus’ life, death and resurrection).
At Mass, Advent is announced through a new cycle (B) of scripture readings and the color purple — vestments, altar cloth, wreath ribbons and candles, and banners. There are also new missalettes and new songs.
The new secular year beckons people, rouses them from their complacency to begin or strengthen good habits and practices, primarily for their health and human relationships.
Advent too beckons people, rouses them to a better or deeper spiritual relationship with God during the new liturgical year.
The liturgical year is about Jesus’ life, death and resurrection and what it means to each of us, said Father Jeffrey Waldrep, St. Therese Parish administrator and judicial vicar.
Advent begins with the Old Testament prophet Isaiah in Scripture calling on God to “tear open the heavens,” to come down and reform his people.
“In Advent we are preparing for Jesus’ coming and Isaiah was prophesizing what was to come,” he said. “The author of the book of Isaiah was trying to awaken people from their complacency to the fact that something more was coming and the season of Advent is the preparation for that something more.
“We tell the story of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection each year in light of Matthew’s Gospel, in light of Mark’s Gospel and in light of Luke’s Gospel looking from different aspects of the rich story of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection,” he said.
The retelling reminds people there is more to life than their earthly existence.
“It is about dying to ourselves and the difference Jesus makes in our lives. It is a story of beginnings and endings, beginnings and endings that we keep telling.
“But the richness is that each time we tell the story, hopefully we are growing deeper in our relationship with the Lord,” Father Waldrep said, “liturgical year to liturgical year.”
The scripture readings for each Sunday of Advent, he said, center on a certain theme: sinfulness, repentance, holiness and obedience.
“If we take the Sunday scripture readings during the four weeks of Advent and reflect on those, we will see that it opens us up to the richness of what it means to get out of ourselves, the richness of saying, ‘Yes, I’ve been complacent, now what do I need to change?’
“Then at Christmastime we can start to be open to new ways of living our lives,” Father Waldrep said.
“It’s about recognizing that God is in the midst of the every thing we do every day. It means we’ve got to do the things we do with a new attitude,” he said.
