The Two Waits of Advent
Advent is a time of waiting. While we wait for the coming of Christ, the Church reads from the prophet Isaiah during Advent as the clearest prophetic expression of Christ. Isaiah 30:18 has an interesting take on this waiting. It says: “Blessed are all those who wait for” the Lord, which we hear often from many passages in Scripture. But this verse actually begins by saying an astonishing thing: “The Lord waits to be gracious to you.” We wait for the Lord; but first the Lord is waiting for us so that He might shower us with grace. Part of our Advent reflection, then, is: how open, receptive, and available are we to this God of grace who is waiting for us?
Wednesday,
Jan. 1st (the octave day) is the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother
of God, with Mass at 9:00 AM at Our Lady of Lourdes Church, and Mass at 6:00 PM at St. Joseph's Mission in Boron. To clarify for
non-Catholics, the title, “Mother of God,” is an ancient one. It is a translation of the Greek title, Theotokos, sometimes also
translated as “God-bearer.” Although it had been in use for quite some time,
this ancient title for Mary came into debate before and during the third
Ecumenical Council of Ephesus in 431 AD. The debate was never about Mary
herself but about Jesus Christ: was He both Divine and human, or was He only
human. The title Theotokos refers to the divinity of Christ Jesus; it has no
claim as to any generation of God Himself. Was the Child Mary bore solely
human, or was He God incarnate at the same time?
Christians faithful to the Apostolic Faith have always upheld Christ's Divinity as revealed truth attested to by God the Father (Mt 3:17; Mk 1:11; Lk 3:22; 2 Pt 1:17), by Jesus Himself (numerous times, e.g., Jn 8:58), by the Angel Gabriel (Lk 1:32, 35), by the angel in Joseph's dream (Mt 1:20, 23), by the Magi who came to “worship” (due only to Divinity; Mt 2:2, 11), by St. Peter (Mt 16:16), by St. John (Jn 1:1-3, 14, 18; 3:16), by St. Matthew (Mt 1:18, 20, 23), by St. John the Baptist (Jn 1:34), by the Roman Centurion (Mt 27:54; Mk 15:39), as attested in all the Scriptures (e.g., Ps 2:7; Ac 13:33; Heb 1:5, 5:5) – even attested to by the devils (Mt 8:29). This doctrine was affirmed at that third Ecumenical Council of Ephesus where the Council held that Theotokos, “Mother of God,” was a proper title for Mary because Jesus is divine – fully God, fully human, one person with two natures. The people of Ephesus actually danced in the streets with joy at this doctrinal pronouncement giving them freedom once again to use their long-beloved title for Mary: Theotokos!
Advent is a time of waiting. While we wait for the coming of Christ, the Church reads from the prophet Isaiah during Advent as the clearest prophetic expression of Christ. Isaiah 30:18 has an interesting take on this waiting. It says: “Blessed are all those who wait for” the Lord, which we hear often from many passages in Scripture. But this verse actually begins by saying an astonishing thing: “The Lord waits to be gracious to you.” We wait for the Lord; but first the Lord is waiting for us so that He might shower us with grace. Part of our Advent reflection, then, is: how open, receptive, and available are we to this God of grace who is waiting for us?
The
Christmas and New Year’s schedule for Our Lady of Lourdes Church is as follows:
This
Saturday, Dec. 21, our Pastor, as Vicar of the High Desert Region, must be in
Fresno for a priestly ordination, and therefore there will be no confessions on
Saturday, December 21st. Hopefully everyone has made their Advent confession
already.
Also, the
weekly Food Bank distribution on Wednesdays will be suspended for Christmas Day
and New Year’s Day, but resume the following Wednesday, Jan. 8th.
Tuesday,
Dec. 24, Christmas Eve, the Liturgical Season of Advent ends and we exchange
the purple color of Advent for the white of the Christmas Liturgical Season. At
9:30 PM, there will be carols in the church followed at 10:00 PM by the
Christmas Vigil Mass. This is the dramatic moment when, in the middle of the
night, lit up by candles, our pastor processes the Baby Jesus into the Church
and places it in the manger, representing the coming into the world of the
incarnate God and Christ that first Christmas night in Bethlehem.
Wednesday,
Dec. 25, the Christmas Day Masses are at 8:15 AM at St. Joseph’s Mission in
Boron; and 10:30 AM English and 12:0 PM Spanish, both at Our Lady of Lourdes
Church.
Christmas
is too wonderful a solemnity to rush by and so the Church celebrates Christmas
in the Liturgy for an octave, eight days. Masses are: Thursday, Dec. 26, at
5:30 PM; Friday, Dec. 27, at 7:45 AM; Saturday, Dec. 28, at 9:00 AM; Saturday
4:30 PM vigil and Sunday 8:15 AM, 10:30 AM, and 12:00 PM (Spanish) Masses
follow the usual Sunday schedule, this day for the Solemnity of the Holy Family
of Jesus, Mary and Joseph; Monday, Dec. 30, at 6:00 PM, and Tuesday, Dec. 31,
at 5:30 PM as a Vigil Mass for Jan. 1st.
Christians faithful to the Apostolic Faith have always upheld Christ's Divinity as revealed truth attested to by God the Father (Mt 3:17; Mk 1:11; Lk 3:22; 2 Pt 1:17), by Jesus Himself (numerous times, e.g., Jn 8:58), by the Angel Gabriel (Lk 1:32, 35), by the angel in Joseph's dream (Mt 1:20, 23), by the Magi who came to “worship” (due only to Divinity; Mt 2:2, 11), by St. Peter (Mt 16:16), by St. John (Jn 1:1-3, 14, 18; 3:16), by St. Matthew (Mt 1:18, 20, 23), by St. John the Baptist (Jn 1:34), by the Roman Centurion (Mt 27:54; Mk 15:39), as attested in all the Scriptures (e.g., Ps 2:7; Ac 13:33; Heb 1:5, 5:5) – even attested to by the devils (Mt 8:29). This doctrine was affirmed at that third Ecumenical Council of Ephesus where the Council held that Theotokos, “Mother of God,” was a proper title for Mary because Jesus is divine – fully God, fully human, one person with two natures. The people of Ephesus actually danced in the streets with joy at this doctrinal pronouncement giving them freedom once again to use their long-beloved title for Mary: Theotokos!
Saturday,
January 4, the First Saturday of the Month, there will also be a 9:00 AM Mass.
Sunday,
January 5, is the Feast of the Epiphany, and the usual Sunday schedule applies.
Sunday,
January 12, is the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, and the usual Sunday
schedule applies. This feast concludes the Christmas Liturgical Season, and now
we exchange the white color for the green of Ordinary Time.
Dibby Green
Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church is located in California City, CA. Visit our website at ollcalcity.org.