For me, the season of Advent is a wonderful antidote to the cultural Christmas we have seen develop around us. I, like you, was bombarded with ads for Black Friday. Then we had Cyber Monday which set new records.

I am not one to lament the commercialization of Christmas. I don’t get worked up if someone wished me Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas. I do not think that Starbuck’s design of cups at Christmas is something to be bothered about.

I do not expect the world around me to embrace my Christian faith, though I work and pray for the advancement of the gospel! I think Advent is the perfect solution to all of those concerns. Advent invites us into the narrative of waiting in hope.

Yesterday, in a Bible Study, we were reflecting on the statement by Simeon that the soul of Mary would be pierced by her son. I imagine that every day for the first few years Mary had to wonder – “Is today the day my soul will be pierced?” As the years progressed, perhaps the questions came less often.

But the message of Christmas connects us to Holy week and there, as her son hung on the cross, her soul was pierced. In Acts 1 we have the last statement about Mary in our Protestant Bibles. There we read that she was with the disciples in the upper room and they were praying. Praying that the mission of her son might be realized. Praying that his death would not be in vain. Praying in the hope that she would one day see her son again.

That is Advent. Waiting in hope that one day we will see her son again!