Ecumenical Advent Prayer 2020

If you're looking for a bit of Advent reflection, here's an opportunity in these pandemic days to pray for our healthcare workers, those who are sick, and for an end to COVID-19 and its many related issues. I'll be livestreaming the prayer at 7 pm (Mountain Time) from the safety of my own home, thanks to the wonders of the internet, and we'll spend some time with scripture, silence and song, in a way that we can sing along in our own places with no worry about catching or spreading the virus. 

The icon of the Mother of Tenderness, above, written by a brother from the Taize community, will grace the prayer space as we anticipate the birth of Christ among us in these dark days. Those of us who long for God's light can sing it together. Feel free to copy the link below and share with friends...

Please join us by clicking here: https://www.facebook.com/events/381497772952842/

Simple Christmas idea #9 revisited -- Attend an Advent service

It's that time of year again... Advent, a lovely, anticipatory time of reawakening the birth of Christ in our hearts, hoping for the justice and peace that our faith calls for, and looking forward to the return of light to our lives...

On Sunday at 7 p.m., the Southeast Edmonton Taize group will be praying together at Resurrection Catholic Church, 10555 50 A Street. All are welcome, and to make the experience truly ecumenical, I would invite participants to bring friends and neighbours of any denomination. Taize Prayer is open to all believers, so the more the merrier.

I love the chant below for these days of long winter darkness. You're all invited to come and sing it with us on Sunday evening.

Praying more slowly

The Magnificat window in the Church of Reconciliation, Taizé.
See John and Jesus?

Last night we had a gorgeous, Advent-y Taizé prayer at the First Church of God, our first visit to a wonderful worship space. The Advent chants we sang included many simple canons that have multiple layers – at least eleven independent voices are required to do justice to the secondary canons in Prepare the way of the Lord, which is an amazing piece of music.

But only one voice is needed to read the Prayer by Brother Roger, founder of the Taizé community. Unfortunately, last night it was read too quickly for the meaning to really sink in.

It’s such a beautiful prayer that I’m repeating it here, for your Advent enjoyment. Prepare the way of the Lord!

You are the God

of every human being

and, too bright for us to look upon,

you let yourself be seen

as in a mirror,

on the face of your Christ.

We are eager

to glimpse a reflection of your presence

in the confusion of people and events:

open in us the gateway to transparency of heart.

In that place of solitude
which there is in each one of us, 

come and refresh the dry and thirsty ground

of our body and our spirit.

Come and inundate us with your trust

till even our inner deserts burst into flower.

+Amen.

One of my favourite seasons

Today is the first Sunday of Advent. On the Christian calendar, New Year's Day. I've always loved the season of Advent because it contains so many words of hope. During the darkest days in our northern regions, hope is essential. It warms the chill, mellows anxiety, promises peace... but only if we beat our swords into plowshares and our spears into pruning hooks. Advent is a time to listen to the prophets of the past (and present)... and to ACT justly, LOVE tenderly and WALK humbly (Micah 6:8) with God and everything in God's creation. That is the way of hope, desperately needed in a world of people who have been convinced that they can buy happiness if only they find the right store.

So how will we act justly, love tenderly, and walk humbly this new year? Again, if we listen, we hear it clearly and simply in the words of a prophet called Isaiah:

If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
   with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
   and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
   and your night will become like the noonday (58:9b-10).

Finding ways to beat swords into ploughshares, do away with oppression and malice, and spend ourselves for the hungry and marginalized sounds like a darn good new year's resolution to me...