When You Work for the Church

If you’re looking to enrich your Advent and Christmas season, why not start early with Celtic Advent on November 15?

In Lean Towards the Light This Advent and Christmas, Christine Sine writes:

In the Western church, Advent starts four Sundays before Christmas Day, but Celtic and Orthodox Christians begin the evening of November 15—forty days before Christmas Day. Celtic Christians always prayed and fasted for forty days in preparation for any major life event, whether it be the planning of a new monastic center or the beginning of a new adventure. Preparation for Christmas was no exception.

I love the Celtic invitation to begin forty days before Christmas Day, before consumerism ramps up to a fever pitch and we become too distracted and overwhelmed by the busyness of the season to really take notice of what matters most. We prepare to celebrate our remembrance of Christ’s birth 2000 years ago, we prepare to welcome him afresh as saviour in our lives,  and we anticipate his return at the end of time when the fullness of God’s redemption will be revealed and all creation will be made new.

Lean Towards the Light This Advent and Christmas offers enriching daily reflections beginning with Celtic Advent on November 15 and ending with Epiphany on January 6. All 33 writers are part of the Godspace writers community, including:

• Andy Wade: Preparing Our Hearts and Homes
• April Yamasaki: An Unexpected Symbol of Advent
• Christine Sine: Pray, Plan, Prepare, Practice
• Joy Lenton: Stilling Our Souls in a Chaotic World
• James Prescott: Darkness to Light
• and many more!

For more information, please see: Lean Towards the Light This Advent and Christmas, compiled by Christine Aroney-Sine and Lisa DeRosa, A Godspace Resource, 2020.