2009 Advent Retreat - Session 3

Luke 1:46-55 (from the translation The Message)

And Mary said,
I'm bursting with God-news;
I'm dancing the song of my Savior God.
God took one good look at me, and look what happened—
I'm the most fortunate woman on earth!
What God has done for me will never be forgotten,
the God whose very name is holy, set apart from all others.
His mercy flows in wave after wave
on those who are in awe before him.
He bared his arm and showed his strength,
scattered the bluffing braggarts.
He knocked tyrants off their high horses,
pulled victims out of the mud.
The starving poor sat down to a banquet;
the callous rich were left out in the cold.
He embraced his chosen child, Israel;
he remembered and piled on the mercies, piled them high.
It's exactly what he promised,
beginning with Abraham and right up to now.



Mary, Woman of Promise by Mary Frances Fleischaker
Mary, woman of the promise
Vessel of your people's dreams:
Through your open, willing spirit
Waters of God's goodness streamed.

Mary, song of holy wisdom
Sung before the world began
Faithful to the Word within you
As you bore God's wondrous plan

Mary, morning star of justice;
mirror of the Radiant Light;
In the shadows of life's journey
Be a beacon for our sight.

Mary, model of compassion;
wounded by your offspring's pain:
When our hearts are torn by sorrow,
teach us how to love again.

Mary, woman of the gospel;
humble home for treasured seed:
help us to be true disciples,
bearing fruit in word and deed
Reflection

I remember the first time I saw a musical. I was maybe 11 or 12, and I went to see the local high school's production of Sound of Music. Everything about it transported me, but the most astonishing part to me (a novice to musicals) was the way in which the characters would, in the middle of mundane speech, be so transported by love or wonder or joy that they just had to burst into song. It was like magic.

In a way, the interaction between Mary and Elizabeth reminds me of some first-century-Palestine Broadway musical. The news Mary has to share is so stupendous, so astonishing, so joyful, that she cant even talk about it, she just has to sing. Whether you love to actually sing or not, perhaps you have felt a time when the love or wonder or joy of God transported you to such depths or such heights that you were beyond words. What did you do in that moment? Sing? Laugh? Dance? Or just sit in quiet ecstasy?

For Further Reflection

-What does your religious tradition have to say about Mary, if anything? How is Mary's journey important to you on your personal spiritual path?

-When we hear it, we know how singing is different from talking - how much more deeply emotions are expressed, how the vocal range rises and falls, how freely and effortlessly the notes seem to fall from a good singer. Is it possible to capture that same feeling from reading words on a page? If not, how else might we experience the Magnificat?

-Mary does not name her Child, or even reveal her pregnancy in the Song. And yet, the hope of Christ's presence is strongly felt in the themes of justice and mercy expressed. What hopes do you have for the coming of the Christ child in this season?

Prayer

God of all life, fill me so with your good news that I am fairly bursting with it. Help me to sing your song using the words and the tune that you have created just for me. Alleluia!

Advent four texts can be found here.

Paintings

It's Not About the Virgin Mary Scott Ward

Magnificat by Virginia Wieringa

Virtual Advent Retreat 2009, Part Two

(This is Part Two of our Virtual Advent Retreat. Part One is here.)


7John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. 9Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” 10And the crowds asked him, “What then should we do?” 11In reply he said to them, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.” 12Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what should we do?” 13He said to them, “Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.” 14Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what should we do?” He said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.”

15As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, 16John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” 18So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people. (John 3:7-18, NRSV)

I have to admit I find that closing verse of the gospel lesson for Advent 3C a little funny. The "good news" John the Baptist came to preach to the people had a hard edge.

He's a tough-talker, John the Baptist. The gospel lesson for Advent 3C begins with name-calling. The people who come out to see him and be baptized are a "brood of vipers." Trees that do not bear fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

Undaunted, the people ask him for specifics. Over and over they ask him, what are we to do? He gives them simple rules for life: share with others, don't take more than you are entitled to take, be satisfied with what you earn.

He's powerful, John. People wonder if he isn't the Messiah himself. When we look around the world today we see plenty of messianic figures, people who proclaim one truth or another. He's preaching the opposite of today's popular prosperity gospel, more like the common sense thinking of our grandparents' generation. Make do with what you have; do a hard day's work and earn what you're paid; keep an eye out for those in need and help where you can.

It seems strange that his rules involve money and wages when he lives in the desert and not in the community of commerce. And it seems even stranger that he suddenly changes the subject from the practical to the metaphorical.

"I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire." (Luke 3:16-17, NRSV)

That sounds more complicated than what came before.

And that's perhaps the key to Advent. What's coming will sort us out, into wheat and chaff. The winnowing fork is in his hand.

That's John's take on it, anyway. He has expectations of the Messiah, and in that he's no different than everyone around him. He believes the One who is Coming will move us all to the next level.

That's John's good news.


For Reflection
John speaks of wheat and chaff being sorted, and we tend to think of this as an outer process, a division of faithful people from the rest of the world. But perhaps we can apply this to the inner life. As we begin this Advent, can you identify the wheat and the chaff in your life? Are you ready to leave the chaff behind?

A Prayer
Advent God, in this season of anticipation, prepare our hearts and minds to receive the truth about our world and our lives. Help us to sort ourselves out with the help of your Holy Spirit. We pray in the name of the One who is Coming. Amen.

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We invite you to share reflections in the comments or to link to your own blog if you are virtually retreating there.

Many thanks to Jenee Woodard at Textweek for the art links, which I found here.

Virtual Advent Retreat 2009

A meditation on the readings for Advent 2C offered by Mompriest:

Entering the Advent journey is an invitation to travel, intentionally, into the wilderness – the dark night of the soul. One hopes that the Church guides this journey offering opportunities to pray, ponder, stirred up, conflicted. John, the desert prophet, proclaims the burning chaff, the background to our Christmas shopping. Advent sings of incongruous images - new birth and end of life, the Alpha and the Omega, of oppression and freedom, of despair and ultimately of hope. The path is uneven and twisted, spiraling in to the depths of our being, certain we are lost. And then, quietly, the Spirit of God calls to us, “Awake, arise, my love, my dear one.” The early morning desert sun illuminates the way - through the valley to Jordan’s bank - our God is near. Awake and hearken, let each heart prepare a place for the Word to break in, a child to come anew, whispering peace into you and me. Come, our long expected One, come.

Within in our darkest night
A starless chill
Shudders
Calling, “Emmanuel
Where
Oh where, are you?”

Within our deepest soul
Astounding one
Voice
Cries in the wilderness
“Prepare
the way of the Lord!”

Within our darkest night
A still small spark
Kindled
Hark! The glad sound calls out
“Sleepers
Awake!” Jerusalem

Rise up and give walk in light
prepare
from darkest night -
Arise!
Our Daystar comes, the night

Dispelled, every valley filled,
every
mountain low, the rough made
smooth
A light, a light bathes bright

Discard the garment, sorrow
afflicted.
Arise! Put on the robe
Adorned
with love and mercy



Questions to ponder:

John Newton, the author of Amazing Grace, describes our spiritual journey as a process of moving from desire for God, to conflict with God, to contemplation and peace with God. (Go here for more on this idea.) Many consider this process to be a spiral not linear. Based on these three "states" where are you in your faith journey?

Does the mystery of Advent invite you into deeper reflection on your relationship with God?

Do you have a meditation of your own you'd like to share with us today?

Do you have an Advent resources you'd like share?

Leave comments or link us back to your blog and join us in this virtual retreat!


You can find the readings for Advent 2C: here
Photos from the personal collection of Mompriest

Additional meditations will appear throughout the day by Songbird and Juniper.

Crossposted at Mompriest's blog: Seeking Authentic Voice

2009 Virtual Advent Retreat

On Monday, November 30th, RevGalBlogPals will hold our 2nd Annual Virtual Advent Retreat, facilitated by Juniper, mompriest and Songbird.

Over the course of the day (early morning, late morning and mid-afternoon, Eastern Time), three facilitators will post reflection pieces on texts for Advent 2, 3 and 4. You may use the materials for contemplation or as writing prompts.

All are welcome to participate by leaving comments or to link back to responses you post on your own blogs. It's a way to connect with one another and we hope will create both a "quiet day" and provide some resources and inspiration for the Advent season.






Scroll down for more on Advent at our 2nd Monday Discussion!

Advent Retreat, Session 3

Luke 1:26-38
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.


excerpt from: Annunciation by Denise Levertov

Hail, space for the uncontained God
From the Agathistos Hymn, Greece VIc

We know the scene: the room, variously furnished,
almost always a lectern, a book; always
the tall lily.
Arrived on solemn grandeur of great wings,
the angelic ambassador, standing or hovering,
whom she acknowledges, a guest.

But we are told of meek obedience. No one mentions
courage.
The engendering Spirit
did not enter her without consent.
God waited.

She was free
to accept or to refuse, choice
integral to humanness.

___________

...Called to a destiny more momentous
than any in all of Time,
she did not quail,
only asked
a simple, 'How can this be?'
and gravely, courteously,
took to heart the angel’s reply...

Reflection
I have always been struck by the matter-of-fact practicality of the voices of women in the Bible. When Jesus arrives at the tomb of his friend Lazarus and starts talking about letting him out, it is the women who remind him that the body might, you know, have an odor. In this passage Mary, who Denise Levertov seems to see as merely calm rather than meek or submissive, getting right to the heart of the matter. Told of a miracle, she requests information about the logistics. "How can this be, since I have no husband?" These Biblical women, with their intimate knowledge of the workings of bodies in both life and death remind me to keep my feet on the ground, even (or especially) when I'm tempted to get carried away by what I think are God's plans. Like the angel Gabriel, who doesn't shame Mary for asking a question, but instead answers as straight-forwardly as he knows how, more and more I sense from God a willingness to be in dialogue about everything - not just the big stuff or the spiritual stuff, but the everyday details of life. Early in my faith development, I told some friends that I "believe in God and everything, but I'm not the kind of person who would ask God whether I should have tuna for lunch." Lately I find to my surprise that I have actually become just that kind of person. When I remember to do it - consult God about the material as well as the spiritual, pray about the logistics of a plan as well as the outcome, even ask what I should have for lunch - I find the days flow much more smoothly.

For further reflection
The angel advises Mary not to be afraid. What do you think were some of Mary's feelings in her conversation with the angel? How have you felt when you've become aware of a new call from God?

Imagine beginning each day with the prayer "let it be with me according to your word." How might such a prayer alter the rhythm of your days?

After Mary hears the news from the angel, she goes to be with Elizabeth, an older cousin. Can you think of other women who have mentored or sheltered you?

What is God calling you to give birth to in this advent season?

Prayer
Mothering God, Source of all that is, embolden me to welcome your angels at my windowsill, however surprising their news. Give me the courage to ask questions, the wisdom to follow in your way and the tenderness to receive the care of others. Amen.

********
We hope the reflections on this retreat day will enrich your Advent experience. You may write your thoughts here in the comments, or if you write something on your own blog, leave a comment (with a link if you can) inviting us to visit you. Or, if it suits you better, keep these words in your heart, and we will trust that God works in many ways in all of us.




Paintings
The Annunciation, 1898, by Henry Ossawa Tanner
Annunciation by Botticelli
detail from Annunciation, 1527-28 by Jacopo Pontormo

Poem
Annunciation by Denise Levertov

Virtual Advent Retreat, Session 2

Disturbed By Joy~~a Reflection on Advent 3B, Luke 1:47-55

^{4849505152535455}"And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever." (Luke 1:47-55, NRSV)

One Christmas I got a package in the mail from a faraway friend. In it were three refrigerator magnets and a homemade CD of some of her favorite songs. The second cut on the CD was “Joy to the World,” not the carol, but the song by Three Dog Night. It just happens to be true that the first record album I ever bought for myself was purchased at a yard sale for 25 cents, and although it had a torn dust cover, it also had that song. I played it over and over again. It made me happy. “Jeremiah was a bullfrog/was a good friend of mine./I never understood a single word he said”—and I still don’t understand it! But it is full of what I used to think was joy.

Because we think of joy as a kind of exceptional happiness, don’t we? It is the state of happiness produced by getting what we want. It is rowdy and noisy and celebratory.

My friend printed out a list of the songs on the CD for me, and after “Joy to the World” it says, “Sing along! You know you want to!”

And she is correct. I want to sing along! I want to have that bright, shining feeling of joy that we associate with Christmas. But I also feel constrained by thoughts of the dead in Mumbai and the people recovering from Hurricane Ike who have been all but forgotten by the media and the people serving our military in harm’s way and the people who live with war outside their doors every single day. And I feel constrained by thinking of people closer to home for whom this may not be a Merry or Joyful Christmas because they are grieving or ill or simply worried about what this bad economy will mean not just for Christmas but for every day this winter.

There must be more to a Christian’s joy than happiness about things we have achieved. There must be more to a Christian’s joy than trumpets and drums and partridges in pear trees.

Mary said:
With all my heart
I praise the Lord,
and I am glad
because of God my Savior.
He cares for me,
his humble servant.
From now on,
all people will say
God has blessed me.
God All-Powerful has done
great things for me,
and his name is holy.

(Luke 1:46-49, The Message)

She was a very young woman, barely more than a girl. Getting pregnant before getting married was the worst thing that could have happened to her. In fact, she didn’t quite know what to do with the news. Probably she worried about telling her mother and father. Certainly she worried about how Joseph, the man she was pledged to marry, would react to the revelation.

I think it’s likely that every woman who has received the news she will have a baby has been disturbed at least a little. Even the most wanted pregnancy will change the lives of the parents; even the most wanted child breaks forth from the mother in a way that means nothing will ever be quite the same again.

Having a child is a disturbing joy.

In her song, Mary speaks words about God’s plan to turn things upside down and inside out, to make the world a markedly different place.

The Lord has used
his powerful arm
to scatter those
who are proud.
He drags strong rulers
from their thrones
and puts humble people
in places of power.
God gives the hungry
good things to eat,
and sends the rich away
with nothing.

(Luke 1:51-53, The Message)

When I read such words, I want to say, “Yes, Lord, do that. Joy to the World! All the boys and girls! Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea. Joy to you and me!”

I suspect a lot of us are feeling like that right now. It’s good to think of God lifting up the needy and giving a little smackdown to those who are on the “up” side of life—as long as we don’t count ourselves among the comfortable.

How often do we really want God to shake up the world? Are we prepared to be scattered?

God’s scattering and shaking brings about joy, but it is a joy that disturbs the status quo.

For many people in the world, having Mary’s words come to pass would look just as devastating. For many people in the world, it may feel they have this fall. A slideshow on a news website showed pictures of grown men crying on the trading floors of stock markets all around the world. How many days did people watch the stock ticker and feel scattered as the “bottom” dropped further and further? How will banks convince us our money is safe and stores convince us to shop? How will we perpetuate the life to which we have grown accustomed?

But perhaps being scattered and disturbed means leaving those assumed comforts behind. God’s joyful world to come is not about malls and sales or success and victory. God’s joyful world to come will disturb us, as surely as a baby’s cry wakes us in the night and demands our attention.

For Reflection
1. What demands your attention in this Advent season?
2. What in your life needs to be scattered by God's arm?
3. What brings you joy?

For Prayer
Scattering God, disturb us with your joy that we might share it with others in this Advent season. Remind us of the courage of a young woman who said "yes" to you, a young woman who understood the way you desired to change the world. Help us to be agents of that change, we ask in the name of the one for whom we wait, Jesus Christ. Amen.

We hope the reflections on this retreat day will enrich your Advent experience. You may write your thoughts here in the comments, or if you write something on your own blog, leave a comment (with a link if you can) inviting us to visit you. Or, if it suits you better, keep these words in your heart, and we will trust that God works in many ways in all of us.

Virtual Advent Retreat, Session 1

Isaiah 40:1-11 - NRSV (as set for Advent 2 in this Year B)

Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. A voice cries out: "In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken." A voice says, "Cry out!" And I said, "What shall I cry?" All people are grass, their constancy is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the LORD blows upon it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever. Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings, lift it up, do not fear; say to the cities of Judah, "Here is your God!" See, the Lord GOD comes with might, and his arm rules for him; his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep.

I must have been about five years old when my father first took me to a performance of Handel’s Messiah. I felt unimaginably grown-up as I filed into the local concert hall, and I’m sure my eyes were out on stalks as I watched my first real orchestra tune up and begin the overture. For a while, all was activity, as the strings chased each other in restless counterpoint. Then the mode changed to one of calm expectancy…and it was into this that a tenor dropped his notes of liquid hope

“Comfort ye, Comfort ye my people”.

A long time has elapsed since that first experience, but it’s still almost impossible for me to divorce these words from Handel's inspired music. I think I should try, though, because what is going on in this passage is anything but tranquil for much of the time.
Listen...

A voice cries out: "In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.

Of course there is reassurance, that God will surely come along the royal road prepared for him, but before he does so there will need to be something very much like an earthquake.
Nothing will ever be the same again, - this is more than a little gentle landscaping, for roads aren’t built without a dramatic effect on the countryside. Every time a new highway is proposed here, the U.K. press is full of stories of protestors anxious not to see valleys and hills levelled, and the natural contours altered beyond recognition. No matter that a greater good may be evident, - perhaps an historic market town will be freed from the impact of streams of heavy goods vehicles, threatening the foundations of houses that have stood for centuries. Despite this, we’re reluctant to opt for change, and this passage speaks of some pretty dramatic changes, including that which makes us most uneasy, - our own changed state from earthly life to death.

“All flesh is as grass”
Now the soundtrack in my head has changed, and I’m carried along by Brahms’ German Requiem, the drumbeats heavy with anticipation of the inevitable.
There will have to be many small deaths as we prepare for the coming of God. The levelling of mountains and hills, the smoothing out of rough places in ourselves and in our community, will never be without cost for us, for we are the people who wish not to be disturbed, unless on our own terms.

So often Advent becomes a time of frenzied accumulation, as we hunt the length and breadth of town for the perfect gift for people with no material needs whatsoever. Rather than smoothing out valleys and hills, we make mountains out of molehills as the days fly past, until Christmas shopping becomes a chore, and we are simply desperate to ensure that there is something, anything, to wrap and put under the tree by December 25th. Maybe this year economics will give our Advent a different shape, one more in keeping with Isaiah. The message here reminds us of the transience of all those things which seem, for a while, so supremely important. Even their recipients are here but for a limited span.
So, instead of our seasonal round of accumulation, Isaiah speaks of simplification, stripping away the inessentials, levelling the landscape so that you can see far into the distance…and then, - oh then the glory of the Lord will be revealed!

What’s more, after the images of earthquake and reminders of mortality, the God who comes in might meets us in gentleness. He recognises the scars that our own inner landscapes bear after so much upheaval, and scoops us up tenderly, as a shepherd a young lamb. We have no need to struggle, but can relax safe in those loving, protective arms.

This Advent, many are struggling because their familiar settings have been changed irrevocably, the reliable landmarks by which they defined themselves and their lives swept away by the economic crisis. Just this week, the shape of the British High Street has been changed dramatically as 800 Woolworth’s stores close. They have been part of the fabric of our nation for 99 years but suddenly, overnight, they are gone – and with them 25,000 jobs.
An earthquake indeed.
The things we have taken for granted simply aren’t there any more, and like the people of Israel for whom Isaiah wrote, we find ourselves strangers in a strange land…

So these words are for us, too.
“Do not fear…. Here is your God”
Whatever happens to the ephemera around us, that is something we can rely on.
May we keep God as the focus as we prepare the way for his coming to each of us at Christmas.




For reflection:
You might like to consider where and why you protest about building a highway for God.
Which hills need to become valleys...or which mountains are really molehills?
Listen again to the reassurance "Do not fear...Here is your God."
God is speaking into the situation of your greatest anxiety. Where your fear is most deeply seated, there God is already waiting.

For prayer:
Loving God, in a world whose landscapes are often distorted, help us to clear a pathway for you. Enable us to recognise that your presence with us is all the good news that we need to carry us safely through Advent, and through life, until you welcome us in your loving arms, through Jesus Christ our Saviour.

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We hope the reflections on this retreat day will enrich your Advent experience. You may write your thoughts here in the comments, or if you write something on your own blog, leave a comment (with a link if you can) inviting us to visit you. Or, if it suits you better, keep these words in your heart, and we will trust that God works in many ways in all of us.

Virtual Advent Retreat

On Monday, December 1st, RevGalBlogPals will be hosting a Virtual Advent Retreat.

Over the course of the day (early morning, late morning and mid-afternoon, Eastern Time), three facilitators will post reflection pieces on texts for Advent 2, 3 and 4. You may use the materials for contemplation or as writing prompts. Please feel free to leave comments or to link back to responses you post on your own blogs.

Kathryn Fleming, who blogs at Good in Parts will post first, about Advent 2. Songbird (hey, that's me!), who blogs at Reflectionary, will take on Advent 3. And Juniper, who blogs at Possible Water and had this idea in the first place, will write about Advent 4. It's a way to connect with one another and we hope will create both a "quiet day" and provide some resources and inspiration for the Advent season.

All are welcome to participate!