fr. gray's column for dec 1, 2019

the shortest distance is between

When was the last time you looked up at the stars? To get a good look, a really good look at the stars, the viewer needs to be away from any city lights and the moon needs to be favorable. The last new moon was on Tuesday—so the moon is setting several hours after the sun sets. To go out and see the stars tonight, wait until the morning.

This weekend we begin Advent, that time in which we prepare for Christ’s coming centuries ago in Bethlehem. Advent has a two-fold character: it’s a season to prepare for Christmas when Christ’s first coming is remembered, and as a season when that remembrance directs our mind and heart to await Christ’s second coming at the end of time.

The world and all it contains, the stars and the depths of the ocean are all God’s creatures. Jesus is the Light who created the sun, moon, planets and all the heavenly constellations and comets and meteors. At a quiet time, in a quiet place, God Himself came into creation, and since then the world has never been the same.

And that change wasn’t just once-for-all; its effects are ongoing. As Christians, we must always be changing as well. We must grow, and in our growth we leave old things behind and embrace the new. This Advent, this Year of Grace 2020 that begins this Sunday, St. Mary’s is embracing a new bulletin, a new website, new tools to help us all come closer together and closer to the Lord, who comes. In Christ, all is made new, all is refreshed. We must allow ourselves to be refreshed as well.

Renewal means opening ourselves to new ideas, allowing our senses to be washed and purified. The Lord deserves nothing less than our best, and even here, with our weekly bulletin, with our website, we must strive for the beautiful.

When the air is clear, in the darkest part of winter night, even then the sky is full of light. In the beginning, the Lord made the world in beauty, and in His coming, the world is made beautiful again. The Light of the world may be dim and hard to see, but it is there, and all around
us—and our Lord wants to share it with us. Find a time to look up at the stars this Advent; all the heavens keep watch for the coming of the Savior.

In Christ,

Fr. Christopher Gray, pastor