User talk:Robert Sanabam

DR ROBERT RENATUS SANABAM: THE ADVENT SEASON

In the Christian world the celebration of Christmas is incomplete without the fulfillment of the Advent Season. It is neither a festival nor purely a rite. This year it will start from November 28, four weeks ahead of Christmas, which is the usual calculation and will close on the eve of December 24. Generally, it must accommodate at least four Sundays.

Process: For families it must be very simple. We shall arrange four colorful candles of purple, green, red, and yellow. The youngest in the family shall light up a candle on the first day preferably in the evening to marks its beginning. Then the whole family shall read jointly the day’s verse taken out from the Holy Bible purposefully (because a new verse for each day). A family member who understood the verse well shall do the explanation of the verse. At the last stage of the session the members shall mediate on the reflections of the day, which should be based on certain questions. At the end the candle (s) shall be put out to mark the day’s session.

Rites: In the first week we shall use only one candle, in the second week two candles, in the third week three candles, and four candles in the last week. On every session, we shall sprinkle the Holy Water before and after the sitting. It is an obligatory ritual function.

Liturgy: It would be an essential part in which the mother in the family shall give a welcome address while opening the prayer session. If the mother is not available, any elderly female member shall conduct it. After her the family father delivers an introductory speech relating to the day, which shall be followed by the Readings of the Gospel one after another covering the whole family. A hymn (selected one) will follow after it. At the end the mother will say loudly God’s blessings to all the members including herself. This will be followed by a joint saying of “Amen.”

Significance: Each candle represents one thousand years. The idea is that the birth of Christ took four thousand years since it was predicted.

The introduction is that every day we have an Advent like situation throughout our life. We may call it life’s hopes. It has no end like expectations in our life. The Christian hopes never fade away except fulfillment just like the burning candles. Christian value: Every Christian family shall acquire a new life for every day. By this indication the Advent Season is closely related to Christian festival. Without candling the Advent, the Christmas candle, if any, are meaningless. Because Christmas is both the end and the beginning of our life journey.

Two verses: On the first day we shall recite the following: The Lord said, “The time is coming when I will fulfill the promise that I made to the people of Israel and Judah” (Jeremiah 33: 14) On the last day we shall recite the following verse: “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has visited his people and set them free” (Luke 1:64) The first verse may be explained in such a way that mankind shall always have promise, trust, hope and expectation. Jeremiah was a prophet and also a man of promise. If we could act in the same way like him we shall become prophet. Love, hope and justice shall adorn our lives. The last verse gives an account of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is our Saviour who came to this planet as our Messiah. He successfully instituted perfection in his human face. It’s God’s will to fulfill the world with his voice. So he called on us to love our God and our neighbour as well. Nothing is impossible if we could speak the truth. For this purpose God sent him to us. He is our symbol of hopes. He is unique in himself. To him there is no difference, bad or good.

Basis for meditation: On the first day we shall meditate on the following questions: i)	How does God’s promise of fidelity affect our daily lives at the Advent of 2000 millinium? ii)	What are God’s promises to us in the next millennium? iii)	What are our expectations from God in the next centuriy? On the last day we shall meditate on the following: i)	How we shall fulfill God’s will in the next millennium? ii)	In what way shall peace, hope, anxiety or problem come upon us in the next century? iii)	What would be God’s next gift to us if we trust Him in the next century? iv)	When shall we be freed from fear and distrust? v)	In which human form and at what time shall Jesus appear to all of us?

Importance of December 17: Every year December 17 is very important day. It is the first day of the last week of the Advent Season. For the current year the date falls on Friday of the week. On this day we shall recite the following verse: “This is the list of ancestors of Jesus Christ, a descendant of David, who was a descendant of Abram.” (Matthew 1: 1)

Jesus is the greatest person ever born on this earth. He came and organized our complete salvation. He suggested us to establish the Kingdom of God where the rich and the poor live together in harmony. It would be the promised land of God. Purpose of the Advent Season: We should be faithful to our faith. During the Advent Season we shall mediate on the Journey of the Lord to our Earth. God will never call us to be successful but to be faithful ones, according to mother Teresa. Faithfulness itself is fidelity which is meaningless without patience. The most difficult time of our patience comes at the time when we want our situations changed successfully. But it would be impossible to achieve it without a life long process of growth. We must intently look into our life for it.

Why is Jesus called the Anointed one? Because he is believed to have already existed long before the Christmas. At present he is standing unforeseen at every door quietly knocking at our doors far opening. He likes to stay among us for ever. He loves us so He died on the Cross.

He remembers us so he rose from the death. Conclusion: “Arise and shine,For your Light Has Come (Isaiah 60: 1) Everybody is counted by God as a star shining in the sky. God wants us to generate generosity by discarding our selfishness. Men will achieve complete sovereignty when there is permanent peace in their mind. The present age is the age of wisdom which we may realize only through God realization. The realization of God is not a simple act but it may be achieved through God’s covenant when fully endowed with truth. But we cannot whereas God can. It is because of our sin God comes often to forgive us. We are too weak to love God even in the midst of turmoil. How merciful and powerful is our God! -