ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
December 18, 2022
Today is love Sunday, but I was typing those words a few days ago for something else, and I was struck by the unintended implication. As followers of Jesus, shouldn’t every Sunday be love Sunday? Or let’s take it a step further. Shouldn’t every day be filled with love? I’m guessing you’d agree with me in saying YES to both of those questions. Yet with that said, I still think we need a Love Sunday in the Season of Advent. There is something about ritual, practices, certain periods of intense focus, and symbols that help to shape us into people who discover love and integrate love more deeply into our everyday lives. The Bible is filled with rituals and practices, high holy days, and ceremonies. Some of them seem strange to our sensibility, yet they were crafted and used to teach and form a people to live their lives in a very unique way. Today, we celebrate the Fourth Sunday of Advent, Love Sunday. We do so hoping that Monday is able to experience a bit more love because a certain group of people focused their attention a bit more intently on the idea of love.
We give praise to you, O God, and the gift of the Christ Child. We seek to center ourselves more intently and intensely upon the message we shall find wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger. There, we shall find your love enfleshed, O Holy One of the Universe. There we shall find your opinion of us and your calling upon our lives in the form of a baby. Amen.
