Tag Archive for: Lectionary

Second Week of Advent

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SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT
Day 8

Scriptures

Isaiah 11:1-10

Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19

Romans 15:4-13

Matthew 3:1-12

from The Revised Common Lectionary

Peace


God of peace,


Instill in us Your peace


That surpasses all understanding.


As we prepare for God’s coming,


Make us instruments of Your peace


And held us to find rest


In the Prince of Peace


Your Son, Jesus the Christ.


Amen.


ON THIS SECOND WEEK OF ADVENT, we light the candle of peace. A state of being that means tranquility, mental calm, and serenity. We bring our request before God in asking for peace, no matter what circumstances we find ourselves in. Christmas is typically a time of celebration and joyous expectations. 

Anticipating the Christ

By Debora Buerk
Editor, Here & Now
& Selah Companion

Advent.

[ˈadˌvent] (noun).

Old English, from the Latin

adventus ‘arrival’

and from advenire,

from ad- ‘to’ + venire ‘come’.

Synonyms: arrival,
birth, approach, nearing.

For Christians, Advent is a time spent preparing for Christmas. For many of us, this can include decorating our homes, putting up a Christmas tree, creating an Advent calendar, writing Christmas cards, gathering with family and friends for dinner, and giving gifts.  

The word Advent originates in Old English from the Latin word “adventus,” or “coming”—the arrival of God in human form, umbilical cord, and all. 

While some are tempted to think of Christmas as an event to be observed at the end of the calendar year, they would miss the origin and meaning of Advent.

We don’t know when the period of preparation for Christmas, now called Advent, began. It existed from about 480, with the Council of Tours in 567. What we know and celebrate is a time of preparation for Christmas Day, when we celebrate the birth or beginning of the Christian liturgical year. 

Advent anticipates the “coming of Christ” from three different perspectives:

  1. The physical Nativity in Bethlehem
  2. The reception of Christ in the heart of the believer
  3. The eschatological second coming 

This third meaning, I believe, was the focus of the early church—to wait for Christ’s second coming. This, however, has become downplayed among today’s Christians.

What if our focus

was to shift to waiting

for Christ’s

second coming?

What if our focus shifted to waiting, anticipating, and preparing for the King’s return to earth, the defeat of Satan and sin, and peace on earth? Now that would be something to anticipate and celebrate.

So this Advent season, as you decorate for Christmas, sing the carols, and light the advent wreath, try to anticipate—look forward to Christ’s return and, with it, peace on earth. What if we wished each other a “Blessed Advent” as a prelude to “Merry Christmas?”

In doing so, we can simultaneously give and receive the love of God to each other—as we anticipate and draw near his birth.

I wish you a joy-filled Advent for all of us in the growing Selah community.

Advent Begins Today

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FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT

Scripture
Isaiah 2:1-5
Psalm 122
Romans 13:11-14
Matthew 24:36-44

The Revised Common Lectionary

Today we light the first candle in the Advent wreath.

What is a Lectionary?

By DEBORA BUERK
Editor, Here & Now
& Selah Companion

Sharing in the same scripture through Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany, we knit our community in ways that unite us through God’s word

Sharing in the same scripture through Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany, we knit our community in ways that unify us through God’s word. For each of these scriptures provided, we are reading scripture from the Revised Common Lectionary that will be followed not only by those who participate in this blog but also by those all around the world who also use the Revised Common Lectionary. We are not alone as we connect with God through God’s words and with others who are being shaped by these words.

For some, the lectionary may be a new resource for use with scripture. Following the church calendar that begins with Advent and ends with Epiphany, we provide a scripture each week, starting with Thanksgiving, that opens us to explore the ways God can shape us through “His words.”

You can participate in these scriptures in a variety of ways throughout the Advent season:

  • You can focus on Lectio Divina, a sacred reading whereby the scripture reads you as you hold words in a contemplative posture.
  • You can use artistic expression through drawing, music, dance, or writing that responds to the words below. 
  • You can journal through the scriptures by using an Examen of gratitude for what these words say to you. 
  • You can engage with the reflections—the observations and responses to the given passages—as a source of encouragement, challenge, and/or comfort.

History of the Lectionary

 About the Revised Common Lectionary—A lectionary is a table of readings from Scripture appointed to be read at public worship. The Lectionary (1969, revised 1981) developed by the Roman Catholic Church after Vatican II provided for a three-year cycle of Sunday readings. This Roman lectionary provided the basis for the lectionary in the 1979 edition of The Book of Common Prayer, as well as for lectionaries developed by many other denominations.

The Common Lectionary, published in 1983, was an ecumenical project of several American and Canadian denominations, developed out of a concern for the unity of the church and a desire for a common experience of Scripture. It was intended to harmonize the many different denominational approaches to the three-year lectionary.

The Revised Common Lectionary, published in 1992 and officially adopted by The Episcopal Church in 2006, considered constructive criticism of the Common Lectionary based on evaluating its trial use. As the current prayer book lectionary, it is a three-year cycle of Sunday Eucharistic readings in which Matthew, Mark, and Luke are read in successive years, with some material from John read each year. https://www.episcopalchurch.org/about-revised-common-lectionary/

Lectio Divina

The Lectio Divina practice usually follows this process: read through the scripture to familiarize yourself with the passage; read a second time to listen for a word or phrase that surfaces for you; read a third time to let the word or phrase speak to your current situation; close with a prayer to ask the Spirit to let the word or phrase from the scripture shape you. That’s how “letting scripture read you” changes our approach from only reading scripture. (paraphrased from Eugene Peterson)

The Examen

The Examen practice starts with a time of reflection, noting what is life-giving in what you are reading, what is life-draining, and that for which you are grateful. Using this practice through the season allows you to see patterns that emerge in your discoveries

Listening in to Advent

A Quiet Day to Prepare Our Hearts

November 28, 2022

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