God sent the angel Gabriel to the town of Nazareth in Galilee with a message for a virgin named Mary.
”The Holy Spirit will come down to you, and God’s power will come over you. So your child will be called the holy Son of God. Your relative Elizabeth is also going to have a son, even though she is old. No one thought she could ever have a baby, but in three months she will have a son. Nothing is impossible with God!”
Luke 1:26, 35 – 37
Reflect on the word ADVENT for a few moments.
Does Advent get lost as we prepare for celebrating Christmas? Why does Advent not become a priority in churches as they prepare for Christmas celebrations? We prepare lists of things to do, things to buy, names for sending greeting cards. We prepare to decorate our homes, trim a tree, plan a Christmas dinner. We spend hours of time in preparation.
Preparation is also a time for anticipation. What went through Mary’s mind as she anticipated the months ahead while waiting for her baby to be born?
A pregnant young woman standing at a bus stop – how is she preparing for the birth of her baby? A family struggling to make ends meet since the wage-earner was retrenched months ago and Mum is expecting her third child any day – do they dread these months when signs of celebrations are everywhere?
Advent is a time for waiting, for preparing and for anticipation. Do I have time to wait in quietness to hear God’s voice? In the noise and activity around me, where would I find stillness and silence, to wait?
God of my quiet-times, you know how difficult it is to be still when I am busy preparing for the celebration of Christ’s birth. May I have the will to create quiet spaces every day, as my days get busier.
© Ranjini Wickramaratne-Rebera
For a number of years, our dear friend Ranjini Rebera wrote Biblical reflections for the use of Gungahlin Uniting Church and others, usually for Advent and Lent. We were privileged to receive these, as Ranjini had a working history of writing and teaching on a global stage. Each time she completed the considerable work on one of these studies for us she would announce firmly, ‘That’s it. That is the last one I’m writing. No more. End of story!’ But as Advent or Lent came around again she would start hinting that she’d had an idea for a reflection – and she would write another one.
When she completed a Reflection for Lent 2021, we were not to know that this really was the last one. Ranjini died on 13 October 2021. We miss her intellect, her leadership, her vivid personality, her artistic gifts, her deep faith and her pastoral heart. We have lost some colour from our world.
The Gungahlin Uniting Church Worship Team, where Ranjini served for several years, offers Ranjini’s study material, first produced in 2015, as we give thanks for her life shared among us.