Church during Advent might look a lot like Lent, with the violet altar frontal, Great Litany on Advent I, and omission of the Gloria in excelsis at Mass. Advent, like Lent, is a penitential season, but it’s also different from Lent. Lent prepares for the mystery of Easter, with a specific focus on living into our baptismal identity. Advent prepares our hearts to greet our Lord at Christmas, in the day to day comings of our Lord into our hearts, and in his full majesty and glory at the end of time. These penitential seasons of the Church year are not intended to be gloomy, although Lent does feel a bit austere when the Alleluias go on vacation for a time. As seasons of preparation, both Advent and Lent call each of us to self-examination and repentance. And yet they also call us to hope.
It is the habit of many Christians to mark these penitential seasons with special spiritual practices. Perhaps you are engaging in some holy reading this Advent. I hope you will take some time to embrace the short season of Advent, even though the world outside the Church is in full-blown Christmas mode. I’d like to suggest some other spiritual practices that you might consider this Advent to prepare your hearts to greet Christ in the manger at Christmas and when he comes again on the Last Day.
This is not the first (and won’t be the last time!) I write about the Sacrament of Reconciliation, or private confession. Before you stop reading (especially if you have had a hurtful or unhelpful experience with confession in the Church or another denomination), I invite you to stay with me just a bit longer. Private confession is not required in the Anglican tradition. The old adage stands: “All may, some should, none must.” God forgives before we even ask, but a gesture of turning again to God—metanoia, repentance—is necessary to see that God has always been standing with arms wide open to welcome us home again. To accept God’s forgiveness, we have to turn. And turning can sometimes be the most difficult thing to do. But if God forgives so readily, why confess one’s sins before a priest? The answer, in my view, is because it’s spiritually beneficial for our souls. It keeps us honest with ourselves, others, and God. It humbles us before God and requires that we not take God’s boundless forgiveness for granted. The general confession at Mass is simply not enough time to do a proper self-examination. Moreover, people often confess “sins” that a priest might counsel are not actually sins. The spiritual counsel of a priest can be valuable in coming to terms with the state of one’s own soul. I believe the world would be a holier, better place if more people practiced private confession. There is no room for dissembling in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Private confession before a priest requires that we be specific about our sins, but then hand all of them over to God. Once they are confessed and absolution is given, they are erased. They are no more. We must move on.
If you would like to make a private confession this Advent (or at any other point), you may contact me to schedule one at any time. You should know that the seal of the confessional is inviolable. I may be your parish priest, but coming to me for confession will not change my attitude toward you. Confessions are absolutely private, even though they are held in the fullness of the Church’s embrace (represented by the priest hearing the confession). The best book I know for preparing for confession in the Episcopal Church is Martin Smith’s Reconciliation. I wholeheartedly commend it to you. I will be teaching more on private confession in an adult formation class in the spring.
This Advent, you might also consider attending a weekday Low Mass on Wednesdays or Fridays at 8 a.m. or on Major Holy Days. And after Christmas, don’t forget that we keep the Major Holy Days during the twelve days with Masses. Maybe this Advent you want to try attending Morning or Evening Prayer one day a week. This parish offers many opportunities to help you prepare room in your hearts for Christ as we approach Christmas.
Whatever you choose as a spiritual practice, I pray that this Advent is a season of blessing for you. The light shines in the darkness. Salvation comes to us in the midst of our sorrow and in a world riddled with deep darkness. Christ is coming again. He comes even now. He is knocking at the door. Let us keep awake and be ready to greet him with plenty of oil in our lamps and candles burning.
Yours in Christ,
Father Kyle