Advent 2-Tuesday-Repentance

Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

John the Baptist did not announce a watered-down God. His message was bold and he claimed, “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Matt 3:11) He announced that the coming Messiah would not be a tame representative of God. 

John knew that his own message was powerful, but that Messiah would bring an even more dramatic change to the world.

Baptism seems like a simple and innocent enough sacrament of the church when we see a baby brought into the household of faith. John however, promises and warns, that God’s Holy Spirit will come as part of that baptism.

Have you ever felt baptized by Fire as promised by John?

Advent 1-Turn to the Light

Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

During Advent, I invite you to join in a daily reflection on the words of the collect (from the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer) for each Sunday in Advent. Every day, I’ll provide a short, daily meditation from a phrase in the prayer. Each Sunday, you’ll be able to download a page containing 7 pictures and verses to focus on. You can use the strips to make an Advent chain, or cut out the images to make an Advent collage. I’m going to add the daily pics to die cut Christmas tree shapes and create an Advent calendar.

This prayer (above) for the First Sunday in Advent calls us to a form of repentance. It calls us to turn around and look toward the coming Light. 

We light one candle on the Advent wreath this Sunday. Each week as we light more and more candles, there will be more light until the Christ Child is born to bring the True Light into the world. (John 1). 

You can download week one for your chain or your collage or calendar. Then check back every day for meditations to go with the chain (or collage) you create.