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Intercom Points to Remember First Sunday of Advent – 30 November 2025

The word ‘advent’ means ‘coming’ or ‘arrival.’ It’s about keeping watch as the preface puts it, we who watch for that day.’ The focus of the entire season is the celebration of the birth of Jesus the Christ in his First Advent and looking forward to his return as King in his Second Advent. In this double focus on past and future, Advent also symbolises the spiritual journey of every individual and every community in the here and now.

In spite of all kinds of predictions, allegedly from the sayings of the saints and other holy people, no one knows the time of the Second Coming, only God, and that it will come upon men and women with the suddenness of a rainstorm out of a blue sky. They tell us that that time will come with shattering suddenness on those who are immersed in material things. Noah prepared himself in the calm weather before the flood and when it did come he was ready. But the rest of humanity was lost in the ‘eating and drinking and merrymaking’ and were caught completely unawares and so were swept away. These verses are a warning to us never to become so immersed in time that we forget eternity, that there is a God and that the issues of life and death are in his hands, and that whenever his call comes, at morning, at midday or evening, it must find us ready. However we must remember that the watching of the Christian for the coming of Christ is not that of terror-stricken fear or shivering apprehension, rather it is the eager expectation for the coming of glory and joy.

Blessingtonparish.ie (intercom)

NOVEMBER – TIME OF REMEMBRANCE

In the Church’s liturgical Calendar, November is the month in which we remember our loved ones who have died. When we survey nature all around us at this time of year we are reminded of our fragility and vulnerability. Like the trees letting go of their colourful leaves, we too will have our letting go of this life. A poet once said, “Life is a lesson in the art of letting go.” When loss comes our way it brings huge change: our lives are interrupted.  “Letting go” as an experience is with us every day. Loss in whatever form it comes always takes someone or something from us. Loss changes our lives irrevocably. The “letting go” of a loved one which death requires is probably the hardest experience of our lives. The grief that comes with the loss of a loved one casts a long shadow over our lives, leaving us in disbelief, sorrow, depression, anxiety and uncertainty. There is nothing small about the loss of a loved one, irrespective of age. Grief is a journey and we each make that journey differently, going through a myriad of emotions and feelings. Gradually we learn to accept the loss of a loved one but we do not forget them. Grief comes in and out of our lives and it’s difficult and painful to navigate our way forward.

Elizabeth Gilbert writes: “Deep grief sometimes is almost like a specific location, a coordinate on a map of time. When you are standing in that forest of sorrow, you cannot imagine that you could ever find a way to a better place.” Isn’t this so true for most of us in grief? We feel lost in a forest without pathways, without light. It’s good for us to give words to our grief, either with close, trusted friends, family members or even with a bereavement counsellor. Grief can be like a heavy boulder crushing us to the ground. Let us reach out when necessary and share our sorrow. While we remember our departed loved ones and forever commend them to God’s love and mercy, we trust too that God will bless all who grieve and bring inner peace and healing to them. William Shakespeare said, “To weep is to make less of grief.” When we share our grief with others, the intensity is indeed lessened. But we also have a faith which assures us that God is with us in the loss and grief, in the darkness and the light, in the journey of life. Speaking through the prophet Isaiah God said: “I have called you by name, you are precious to me: I am your God: I will be with you: I will hold you in the palm of my hand.” In these days of November remembering may we be consoled by these hope-filled words from Isaiah.

Fr. Tony