Preparation....this is a common and important theme in the life of the Church. We see the idea of preparation in many different places within the Church. This Nativity Fast, Great Lent, the Apostles Fast, the Dormition Fast and the days that precede the Great Feast of the Church. Anything that is important to do usually needs a period of preparation.  It is much the same with worldly activities: When we are going to cook, we gather our recipe and our ingredients; if we plan to run a marathon we spend time getting in shape; if we are going to travel we prepare by packing and getting our house in order.

 

In the Church, we are asked to prepare for those special events that the Church celebrates: Feast Days. Advent, therefore, is a 40 day preparation for the Nativity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

 

As Archimandrite Vassilios points out, we are accustomed to a very different kind of preparation during this time of year: shopping, decorating, sending cards, going to parties...sometimes the list seems endless. While there is nothing inherently wrong with any of this, the Church calls us to also prepare spiritually for the glorious Feast that is coming, by fasting, prayer and worship.

 

One of the most beautiful aspects of the Advent season in the Church is the references we hear to the prophecy of the coming of a Messiah, a Christ Child. The hymns of the Church speak to us about the fulfillment of these prophecies in the Feast we are preparing for. The services and hymns of the Church during this time call us to:

 

1. Worship and Adore Christ

2. discover and contemplate the revelation of prophecy in the Old and New Testament

 

And it is through these two aspects that we are called to change and transform our lives. Archimandrite Vassilio quotes from the Epistle of James that says we are to "be does of the word, and not hearers only" (James 1:22)

 

So that is the challenge that is set before us in this Advent Fast. We who have ears to hear, let us hear!