PLANNING FOR ADVENT PART 2

HOW TO

In the week before Advent begins make your plans. You may want to make an Advent wreath or find the one you normally use and put it in a place of worship. Bless the wreath as you bring it out, asking God to guide your celebration of the season. Find a place to hang the calendar; plan how you will observe this time. Involve your family and your church. Pray.

To create an Advent wreath find a circular frame. Add decorations, pinecones or greenery, symbolic for some of the everlasting gift of eternal life in Christ Jesus. Add four candles spaced evenly around the circle. Three of the candles are traditionally purple and one is pink. Some add a fifth white candle in the center to represent Christ’s arrival and to be lit on Christmas Day. Buy or make an Advent calendar. To make a simple calendar collect pictures or symbols of the coming season and arrange to paste them on a calendar square each day. You might also collect small treats to mark each day.

The booklet provides suggestions for each day based on one of the lectionary passages for the week. You can find a copy of these Scriptures by going to the Presbyterian Church (USA) website, http://www.pcusa.org/. A short liturgy for use in the weekly lighting of the Advent wreath candles is offered on Sunday. Monday’s scripture can be sung; you might listen again to the singing of the Psalm or canticle from Sunday’s worship by going to the St. B. website, http://www.saintb.org/. On Tuesday we turn to the epistle and form some intentions for the week. Wednesday is a time for reflection and dialogue with family or friends either in person or in your imagination. Join your church family for evening prayers at the church house when you can. Thursday and Friday we listen and respond to the word as heard in the gospel. Our week ends with time for digging deeper, journaling or drawing responses, and engaging in the activities of Advent.

Blessings, Caroline