“Come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!”  —  This can be our theme all through Advent:  to walk in the light of the Lord.  Far too often we walk only by our own light and that is why we stumble and fall. The Prophet Isaiah sees this incredible vision that he describes to us today in the first reading:  All nations come streaming to God! 
 


Something struck me the other day, and its been under my nose all the time.  A psalm verse  “Then I will ever sing in praise of your name and fulfill my vows day after day.”
 
Day after day. Not a once in a lifetime deal, not a magic switch you flip and never have to think about again. Aren’t we all looking for that?  Say yes once and away we go.
                                                                
But it’s not that simple, or maybe a better way to look at it is that it’s not that stagnant. Life with God — a vowed life —   Such as I am striving at is a “day after day” kind of living. Every morning when my feet hit the floor, I vow again. I say yes (with God’s grace) to starting the process and staying with it that day. And WHEN…I fall, I plant my feet and begin again.  It reminded me this morning of that quote “Always we begin again.” Rule of St Benedict — the foundation of our Christian life not just for Benedictines . It’s been right here telling me I don’t have just one chance to get it right…..I have  a chance Day after Day!
 
So Advent is about new beginnings and taking stock of our Christian lives.    Each week as we light light the Candles on our Advent Wreath we think of the Patriarchs and prophets, John the Baptist, and The Great Mother of God, all who went before to Prepare the way for the Lord.  They are to inspire us in our Christian journey.

Advent is not empty waiting.  Rather Advent is a time to renew our faith in this God who loves us so much that He sends us His Son in our humanity so that we can share in God’s divinity.  God sends us His Spirit to deepen our faith in these great mysteries—but this can only happen when our hearts are open to the Lord with generosity.

Details of all the Christmas services can be found on the Christmas @ All Saints page

Today we come to the end of the Liturgical year with the Solemnity of Christ the king.

Many of you, I am sure have been hooked, like me on the Netflix serial "The Crown"  which charts the early days of the reign of our Queen Elizabeth II.



The high point for me comes when the Young Queen is met for the first time by her Grandmother Queen Mary, who having written to her, reminding her who she now is and that duty is to be above all things, that she is no longer Lilibet but The Queen.  In a most moving scene Queen Mary arrives in full mourning and Curtseys low, not before her granddaughter, but before her Sovereign.  A lesson without words about what Queen Mary thinks about Monarchy and Sovereignty.

It is well known that her Majesty know she cannot carry out the task she has done for over 60 years without herself being subject to an even greater King - the Eternal who we celebrate today. 

So many of us no longer have any sense of what it means to have a king over us, a ruler who makes all of the important decisions, a ruler who truly cares of us and seeks the good of the people.  The readings today are based on an understanding of kingship that no longer exists in our world, for the most part.  How lucky we are with our own Queen.
Yet we are invited to consider how Christ is our King and how He comes into our lives as a king, but as a servant king.  Jesus Christ is a king who seeks only our good and the good of all.  Jesus is a king who guides us from humility, not from power.  Jesus has all power and all might and all majesty, but willingly puts all of that aside to become one of us and to sacrifice His life for us.

The Gospel of Luke today gives us the account of the crucifixion of Jesus.  This is true kingship:  dying for the people.  So many still do not recognize that leadership, kingship, can be expressed in humility.  Power comes in weakness.  The true leader dies for his people.  “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”