Advent is described is the arrival of a notable person, thing or event. Most of us would argue that this year of our Lord 2020, the advent of a notable event happened in March, not as we typically know it as the start of a new church year anticipating the celebration of the birth of Christ.

However, we should take this Advent season as an opportunity to reset, recenter ourselves and refocus our spiritual lives. Although hard, we need to remember there is more than COVID-19 in our lives and the lives of our family and friends. We need to find ways to help all those in need or trouble and not be afraid. God will take care of us if we let him. It is about being able to receive as well as give, in this season of giving.

God so loved the world that he sent his son to teach us to love one another and open our hearts to his love.

Dru Torregrossa

When I read the request for an Advent/Christmas Reflection I thought it would be an easy task so I started to write; and I wrote; and I wrote; and I wrote. One version; two versions; three versions and none seemed to capture a true sense of reflection for me. Then it hit me. I was focusing on the season as Carol, the member at St. Mary Anne’s. Most of my reflective memories come from much earlier.

I grew up in a family of 7 girls. As daughter number 5, I remember Advent and Christmas as an exciting but painful time of Waiting. When Thanksgiving was over and all the extra stuffing and gravy were gone, the house took on a new sense of expectation. The music played on the piano by my mother changed. Those marvelous hymns like Hark the Thrilling Voice is Sounding and Sleeper’s Wake echoed most days until my Dad brought the tree home.

Being number 5, most of my tree duty was to stay out of the way. Mom would play all the standard Christmas Carols while the tree was getting dressed for the season. Peg and Anne would put on the lights; Mary was in charge of tinsel (one strand at a time) and Betty decorated the mirror with colored glass wax and a sponge. Once the tree was finished, Mom wrapped a white percale sheet around the bottom as a tree skirt.

Laying under that tree and looking up while the Christmas records were playing on the HiFi was magical. The memory of the smells, the laughter, and the singing, all those years ago have helped to shape a desire for that same memory and sense of expectation for the Birth to be in my own family.

Carol Weisel

Lord, behold our family here assembled. We thank thee for this place in which we dwell: for the love that unites us; for the peace accorded us this day, for the hope with which we expect the morrow, for the health, the work, the food and the bright skies that make our lives delightful …Robert Louis Stevenson

CHRISTMAS IS FAMILY:

It’s the family huddled in the stable in Bethlehem, sharing their lodging with animals and sleeping on coarse hay yet basking in the glory of angelic music and heavenly light;

it’s the family formed through friendships when there is such a connection of similar thoughts and needs that people of varied background are drawn together into a unit of mutual caring and sharing;

it’s the family of father, mother, children, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins with their shared heritage and lasting traditions;

it’s the single parent family striving to stretch money and time in order to provide a nurturing home life as well as basic food, clothing and shelter for children and parent alike;

it’s the family of the parishioners of St. Mary Anne’s who “gather to worship God, welcome all in fellowship, strengthen our faith” and “go out to share and live God’s love be faithful stewards of God’s creation, help those in need”;

it’s God’s family joining together to celebrate the birth of His Son. As we strive to work in His path and be more like Jesus, shouldn’t we all focus on THIS family as the center of our lives during this blessed season and throughout the year?

                                                           Kathy Heidel

Reprinted from our 2000 Advent Reflections booklet. Kathy was a much loved parishioner who died in 2015.

I love Advent, the nighttime darkness and the quiet. I love how, in the heart of winter, the natural world proclaims the waiting, the promise and the hope of the presence of God. I love the blessings of Advent faith.

In Italy, where we lived for seven years, I especially valued the Advent season. The streets of Florence were largely empty of crowds — no Christmas shopping frenzy there! Often white lights were strung across the streets, giving light in the darkness for the holiday. Church bells echoed. Shepherds from the hills came into the city and played phrases of Italian carols on their bagpipes, celebrating the promise of Christmas in the quiet of the evenings.

Now, here back in North East, amid our frenetic and hyped pre-Christmas hysteria, I long for the quiet and darkness of Advent in Italy. Nevertheless, I still try to observe Advent quiet by stopping, looking, listening. I still find hope and joy in the waiting and expectation of Advent in the midst of the winter darkness, pre-Christmas busyness and the chaos of our world.

Advent lets me hear Mary’s song: My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.  The voices of ancient prophets still echo in my heart: Comfort, O comfort my people says our God.… the glory of the Lord shall be revealed.

I try not to get distracted by fear but to work for healing and peace instead. I remember that we live to do good, not feel good. This is why I love Advent. This dark and luminous time tells us of coming and not yet, of waiting and hoping. Advent calls us to live and act in faith and celebrate God’s coming to us and presence with us, known to us by hope, by love.

Fr. Sam Hartman

As a child, I had the advantage of growing up in a church community with long-standing Christmas traditions. Long before the Halloween decorations came down and the last piece of Thanksgiving pies were joyfully eaten, plans were underway for decorating the Sanctuary, gathering Christmas Carolers to visit homes, making costumes for the Christmas pageant and deciding who would have the best roles (a sheep or an angel)!  All this excitement made up the Advent Season and successfully competed with any of the Santa Claus helper sightings at the local mall.

One special year it was decided the Children’s Choir could sit and sing with the Adult Choir at the Christmas Eve Service. I was chosen to sing the first verse of “Oh Holy Night.”

The church was decorated with fresh greens and roping. Candles glowed in the windows making beautiful shadows on the baby Jesus tucked in the crib. Narcissus, with their petite white flowers and delicate scent, and bright poinsettias surrounded the altar.  I could hear the shuffle of parishioners getting comfortable in their seats.   My parents’ and grandparents’ faces were anxious and proud hoping I would not forget the words. I had been practicing every day for weeks but, as often happens, that morning I woke with a scratchy throat. Finally just as the lights dimmed, leaving only a gentle light shining on the baby Jesus, the organist began playing the introduction to “Oh Holy Night”. It was magical! As members of the Children’s Choir in Angel costumes surrounded the baby Jesus, my voice began the beautiful lyrics as only a child’s voice can … “Oh Holy night! The Stars are brightly shining, it is the night of our dear Savior’s birth”.

I hope this Advent season you are filled with child-like anticipation of God’s renewed promise of that Most Holy Night.

Mary G. Park Neureither