It takes me six years to understand the Catholic calendar. If I have not volunteer to help draw out the lector’s duty roster, I probably will go on without really understanding the Catholic calendar. Mass will be just a colourful, ritualistic weekend activity where we go to church just to keep up with the Jones.
Tomorrow, Sunday is the celebration of The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King, which is also the 34th Ordinary Sunday of the Year 1 or the green season. Then, the following Sunday will be the beginning of Advent and we enter into Year 2.
In our Catholic calendar, we have a cycle of three years, i.e. year 1, 2 and 3. We enter into a new year cycle with Advent or the four weeks before Christmas. Advent is pink and violet candles time. I have yet to see a priest wearing a rose coloured robe on the third week of Advent call the Gaudete Sunday. Does your parish priest wears one? Can you show me?
You may ask, why are there three years cycle? Well, I don’t know except that Catholics around the world base their readings from the Bible on the exact, same, standard readings. So, it is kind of systematic where we in Malaysia, or Africa or anywhere else are hearing the same thing. That’s why we are call Catholics which means Universal.
If you wish to learn more about Advent and why we have to approach Christmas with some sort of solemnity, do read this page.
With Advent the ecclesiastical year begins in the Western churches. During this time the faithful are admonished
- to prepare themselves worthily to celebrate the anniversary of the Lord’s coming into the world as the incarnate God of love,
- thus to make their souls fitting abodes for the Redeemer coming in Holy Communion and through grace, and
- thereby to make themselves ready for His final coming as judge, at death and at the end of the world.
Do Catholics fast during the season of Advent? I doubt I have the discipline but I am curious to know.
Anyway….like Father Fabian reminded us, we are Catholics but do we practice Christianity or Churchianity whereby we placed too much emphasis on the colours, rituals and ‘performances’?
The season of Advent is to remind us about God’s love and how He has given His only Son to the world to die for us so that we can be united with our Creator in Heaven again. To those who have difficulties making sense of these words, just treat Jesus like the bridge that connects planet earth with planet heaven. Geddit?
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