Lighting The Way To Christmas With Laudato Si from last year when Good Pope Francis was still with us.
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The Vimeo is a little sluggish on my computer but that could just be my underpowered computer.
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I don't think it's any accident that it's Women who seem to be leading the way to this new dimension of Advent and Christmas. A lot of the Cosmic Christ Christology in my experience comes from the theology of Elizabeth A. Johnson. And I really like how the order of Roman Catholic Womenpriests don't reject what is good in the official RC Church even as they are excommunicated by the guys. Why should they acknowledge that? Here's what got me started on this.
Based on the Encyclical Letter, Laudato Si’, The Sisters of Mercy of Newfoundland partnered with other Sisters of Mercy around the world in re-imagining our Advent journey. They then offered us the Cosmic Advent Wreath, an adaptation of the traditional Advent Wreath which is used in many homes and churches.
Rooted in “deep incarnation” the Cosmic Advent Wreath invites us into a radically different relationship with the world, a relationship where everything and everyone matters. It brings Pope Francis’s encyclical letter Laudato Si’ to life in a new way.
Greens, fabric, or sand are options on which to set the wreath. Candles may be arranged in a circle, a spiral, or arc, and a variety of objects may be used between and among the candles: greens, rocks, shells, berries, whatever stirs your imagination and creativity. Diverse colours for the candles (blue, amber, red, green, white) invite us to embrace a new level of shared consciousness born of science and religion. You may choose to tie coloured ribbons around white candles to reflect and celebrate the four major births of the cosmos that have brought us to this moment in history, and the final coming together of all in divine love.
Week 1: Birth of the Universe. We pray with God’s incarnation in the creation of the cosmos (blue candle).
“God’s first 'idea' was to become manifest – to pour out divine, infinite visible forms. The 'First Flaring Forth' (Big Bang) is now our scientific name for the first idea; and 'Christ' is our theological name. Both are about LOVE and BEAUTY exploding outward in all directions.” (Richard Rohr)
“God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good.” (Genesis 1:3-4)
“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established… (Psalm 8:3)
Week 2: Birth of the Solar system. We pray with God’s incarnation in the creation of the Solar System (amber candle).
“This vast ocean of our solar system is like a womb, that has unfolded over some five billion years to become galaxies and stars, palms and pelicans, the music of Bach and each of us alive today.” (Brian Swimme)
“O God, you established the luminaries and the sun; you have fixed the bounds of earth; you have made summer and winter.” (Psalm 74:16-17)
“ I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and Earth.” Genesis 9:13)
Week 3: Birth of Jesus, the Christ. We pray with the incarnation in the person of Jesus the Christ (red candle).
Christ and Jesus are not exactly the same. In Jesus, God’s presence became more obvious and believable in the world. “By his incarnation (the Christ) inserted himself not just into our humanity, but into the Universe which supports humanity. The presence of the incarnate Word … shines at the heart of all things.” (Teilhard de Chardin)
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word became flesh and lived among us.” (John 1:1,14)
“Christ is the image of the invisible God, the first born of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on Earth were created.” (Col. 1:15-16)
Week 4: My Birth into the whole Cosmic Body of the Universe. We pray with God’s incarnation in each being – human and other that human (green candle).
“We have the power to create a new world, and we have the power to destroy this one. How we choose depends on how we grasp this moment as the kiss of God, impelling us to stand up and speak.” (Illia Delio, OSF)
“For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” (Psalm 139:13-14)
“Ask the animals and they will teach you; the birds of the air and they will tell you; asked the plants of earth and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you.” (Job 12:7-8)
Christmas Eve: All is One. We pray with the coming together of all as One in Divine Love (white).
“In union with all creatures, we journey through this land seeking God, for ‘if the world has a beginning and if it has been created, we must inquire who gave it this beginning, and who was its Creator.’ Let us sing as we go. May our struggles and our concerns for this planet never take away the joy of our hope.” (Laudato Si’, 244)
“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our own eyes, which we have gazed upon and touched with our own hands—this is the Word of life.” (1 John 1:1)
Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
In him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, things visible and invisible.
All things were created through him; all were created for him.
He is before all else that is. In him all things hold together.
In him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,
and through him, to reconcile everything to himself,
whether on earth or in heaven,
making peace by the blood of his cross. (Colossians 1:15-20)
Thank you. Something I had no knowledge of (Cosmic Advent Wreath and “deep incarnation”) is exactly what I needed at this point in Advent.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to be of service. The Roman Catholic Womenpriests really bring new things to the church, and I mean by that the widest meaning of "the church."
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