Current Liturgical Season: Advent
Advent means “coming” and refers to our preparation and expectancy for two distinct but connected comings of Jesus. The first coming refers to the coming of Jesus 2,000 years ago, when as the Creed says, “He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary...” We will celebrate this first coming with the 12-day festival of Christmas starting Dec. 25th. The second coming of Jesus Advent emphasizes is the return He promised to His disciples before He died and rose again. His return will mark the beginning of the judgment of the world and the resurrection of the dead. At Eucharist, during Advent we physically re-orient the focus of our attention during Holy Communion to the east. You’ll notice that the priest is also facing the same direction as the congregation. This is an ancient way that the Church celebrated Holy Communion (Ad Orientum – Latin for “facing East”). This gives us an embodied sense of longing — looking for our coming redemption in the second coming.
The color for Advent is purple—the color of royalty. Jesus is the King of kings. Purple is also the color of penitence. We use this season to fast and prepare ourselves for the joy of Christmas. To this end, during Advent we structure the worship service in order to emphasize the penitential nature of the season—focusing in the first movement of worship on confession of sins.