Rich Thoughts

Shortly after the pandemic shutdown began in March, a new meme appeared on the internet: “This is the lentiest Lent I ever lented.” It was a season of sacrifice, and perhaps it was a time of renewing our reliance on God.

Friends: it’s clear that for many of us, Advent 2020 will be the adventiest Advent we have ever advented!

Advent is a season of waiting in quiet anticipation for God to break forth in our world in new and unexpected ways. Many Catholics consider Advent to be their favorite season of the church year. It is by far the most countercultural of our liturgical seasons, insisting that certain things are worth waiting for, and that there can be a holiness in our longings.

Some of us have accepted that Christmas 2020 will be smaller and quieter than usual. Perhaps the Holy Spirit invites us to make Advent 2020 bigger than usual. Every year, we await the birth of Christ on December 25, but in 2020, we wait for many other things. We await a vaccine. We await a return to “normal” – attending school full time, returning to the office, going on vacations, gathering with family and friends, attending concerts, and eating at restaurants. Some of us are awaiting January 1, 2021, hoping that all the disappointments of the past months will end once we enter a new calendar year.

The promise of the ancient prophets rings true again in 2020: good things will come to those of us who wait for the Lord.

~ Fr. Rich Andre, CSP

Here are four possible ways to consider celebrating Advent 2020:

1. The readings for daily Mass during Advent are among the most hope-filled passages in the Bible. Join us online or in person for daily Mass, or pray with the Advent scriptures. You can find a quick overview of the readings at our lectionary guide page, Advent Day by Day.

2. If you feel safe venturing out, and if you haven’t been able to celebrate the sacrament of reconciliation yet in 2020, consider doing so in Advent. You can contact Sharon Lehtonen to set up an in-person appointment with the priest of your choice, or you can join us for a communal penance service at 7 pm on Monday, December 14. Deacon Billy Atkins will preach that night, and several Paulist priests will be available to hear individual confessions.

3. Consider reading Fr. Ron Rolheiser’s contemporary classic, The Holy Longing. In 241 easy-to-read pages, he gives pragmatic insights into “an unquenchable fire, a restlessness, a longing, a disquiet, a hunger, a loneliness, a gnawing nostalgia, a wildness that cannot be tamed, a congenital all-embracing ache that lies at the center of human experience and is the ultimate force that drives everything else.”

4. If you’re going through an especially dark time in your life, consider joining us online or in person for a special “Blue Christmas” Mass at 6 pm on December 24. While we will use the familiar readings and prayers of a typical loud and joyous Christmas Mass, this quieter liturgy will focus primarily on the hope we have in God, even during difficult times. If you plan to join us in person, don’t forget to register your Christmas Mass preference as soon as possible. Registration will end on December 11th.

Need more options?
Visit our Advent 2020 page. 

Good things will come - like the desert in bloom.