Advent A Season of Joyful Expectation

Preparing for Life at the Table of the Lord

A Newsletter from the Christian Initiation Committee

 of the Ontario Liturgical Conference

Advent 2019

The Advent Christmas Season

Advent may be the one time of year that we feel the most out of sync with our surroundings and culture.  Our world is busy planning and celebrating Christmas parties and as a new liturgical year begins we are entering a season of joyful expectation.

Expectation or anticipation is not something our culture embraces. We seek to have needs met quickly and the notion of waiting is almost lost. Often when forced to wait in line at the local store or doctor’s office we turn our attention to an electronic device.

For catechumens and candidates, it may be challenging to hear the Scriptures and prayers of Advent when for years their pattern has been to focus on Christmas from about December 1^st until December 26^th.  

Celebrating the Advent season can provide opportunities to practice welcoming Christ in our brothers and sisters as we prepare to celebrate the mystery of the Incarnation.

This season is an ideal time for sponsors to walk closely with the catechumens and candidates.  The role of the sponsor is to accompany and serve as a mentor.

Advent provides the space and time for a sponsor to invite the catechumen or candidate to join them in an act of charity or outreach. The sponsor is encouraged to pray with the catechumen or candidate prior to the activity and to include time after the event to reflect together on the time spent serving God by serving others.

Many parishes hold special events during Advent such as Lessons and Carols or an evening reflection.  Sponsors may invite and accompany the catechumen or candidate to a parish event. This is a practical way to introduce them to the larger parish community. 

One of the most effective ways to celebrate Advent well is to deliberately schedule Christmas gatherings during the Christmas season.  This year the feast of Christmas ends at sundown on Sunday January 12^th.

During the Christmas break we continue to gather with catechumens and candidates for breaking open the Word each Sunday.  The feast of the Holy Family and Epiphany are opportunities to celebrate the Christmas season with the catechumens, candidates and their families.

Lamenting a culture that surrenders Advent to Christmas festivities will not lead us to embracing the Advent season. Celebrating Advent well and scheduling times to celebrate Christmas during the Christmas season will assist us in living in harmony with the liturgical year.

The Period of Mystagogy

Christ has Risen!  Risen indeed!

As we continue to celebrate the great 50 days this brief introduction to the Period of Mystagogy is offered for your reflection.



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Preparing for Life at the Table of the Lord

A Newsletter from the Christian Initiation Committee

 of the Ontario Liturgical Conference

Lent 2019

Lent in the Parish

We know that the season of Lent in a parish is a special time of year. There is an intensity and purpose to the season, and many things change – outwardly and inwardly. In the church building we see flowers removed, and purple vestments and banners appear.

People are marked with ashes to begin this sacred/solemn time, and the practices of the season: Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving are embraced. Whether there is a parish mission or some other kind of devotion - Lent is not the “Same old – Same old”.

This season prepares the Elect for Initiation, and the balance of the parish to renew their Baptismal promises at the great feast of Easter.

For those already baptized, the season of Lend needs to be different in the process of preparation for the Sacraments of Initiation as well. It is an ideal time for a retreat for families preparing for a child to come to the Table and share in Holy Communion for the 

First time. It is a great time for Confirmation Candidates to work with their sponsor on a plan of outreach, having been informed of the disciplines of Lent, and the joy of being baptized.

Lent for the Elect

The time of Lent also needs to be different for those Catechumens who become the Elect on the First Sunday of Lent.

This time is not a time of catching up on matters from the period of the Catechumenate; it is a wonderful 40-day retreat centered on the rites of the season.

Scrutiny è Purification Presentation è Enlightenment

In the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults the time of Lent is referred to as the Period of Purification and Enlightenment. The two types of ritual actions that happen in this period are the Scrutinies and the Presentations of the Creed and the Our Father.

On the third, fourth, and fifth Sundays of Lent we celebrate a Scrutiny. The scrutiny is meant to uncover then heal all that is weak, defective, or sinful in the Elect, and then strengthen all that is upright, strong and good. Looking at Jesus as the living water, the light of the world, and the resurrection and the life, these Scrutinies are preparing and purifying the elect for Initiation.

In the third week we present the Creed, and in the fifth week we present the Our Father. Since they celebrated the Rite of Acceptance, our catechumens have been dismissed so they have not prayed these ancient texts which express the heart of the Church’s faith and prayer in the midst of the assembled community.

Thus the Rites belonging to Lent are very closely related to the name of this period in the Church’s ritual text!