From the bidding prayer to a service of Advent Lessons and Carols in The Book of Occasional Services (p 22):
Dear People of God: In the season of Advent, it is our responsibility and joy to prepare ourselves to hear once more the message of the Angels, to go to Bethlehem and see the Son of God lying in a manger. Let us hear and heed in Holy Scripture the story of God’s loving purpose from the time of our rebellion against him until the glorious redemption brought us by his holy Child Jesus, and let us look forward to the yearly remembrance of his birth with hymns and songs of praise. But first, let us pray for the needs of his whole world, for peace on and justice on earth, for the unity and mission of the Church for which he died, and especially for his Church in our country and in this city. And because he particularly loves them, let us remember in his name the poor and hopeless, the cold, the hungry and the oppressed, the sick and those who mourn, the lonely and unloved, the aged and little children, as well as all those who do not know and love the Lord Jesus Christ. Finally, let us remember before God his pure and lowly Mother, and that whole multitude which no one can number, whose hope was in the Word made flesh, and with whom, in Jesus, we are one evermore.
This Advent bidding from the heart of our Episcopal tradition speaks volumes about who we aspire to be, that we would choose to put ourselves in mind of the poor and hopeless, the cold, the hungry and the oppressed, the sick and those who mourn, the lonely and unloved, the aged and little children, as well as all those who do not know and love the Lord Jesus Christ before we just settle in to the heartwarming message of the angels; that we not only hear but heedin Holy Scripture the story of God’s loving purpose for humankind before or as a way of entering into the story of going to Bethlehem to see the holy Child Jesus lying in a manger.
To our misfortune, however, the commercialism of the Christmas season has all but obscured Advent so that, for most people (maybe even some of us), it seems that the Christmas season begins with the first TV commercial in September and ends the day after Christmas rather than following an enriching period of preparation, ending with the joyous twelve-day celebration of the Christmas season beginning on Christmas Day. From Advent wreaths and candles to Advent calendars and solemn prayer, this Advent let’s set aside time to prepare ourselves in joyful expectation for our Lord’s nativity.
Marc
