Advent 2014

Kicked-off Advent with a study series on 12th century monk Bernard of Clairvaux's famous idea of 'three advents'":

“We know His threefold coming: to mankind, into mankind, and against mankind. To all He comes without distinction, but not so into all or against all.  If you think that I am inventing what I am saying about the middle coming, listen to the Lord himself: 'If anyone loves me, he will keep my words, and the Father will love him, and we shall come to him.'”

In a sense, given Christ's ascension, there is a pattern of coming and going, followed by returning.  If you're keeping count, several advents, and a departure. Bernard apparently had a profound, subjective experience of faith, which is reflected in his advent emphasis and many of his famous hymns, eg "Jesus the Very Thought of Thee."

*****

The general point is that Advent and Christmastide in church liturgical time is more about a season and direction than a specific day - ie a theology or world view, not a singular event - thus, the linear thrust of the advent calendar points to epiphany; a time when the Gentile magi disperse the good news to foreign lands.  

Parallel is the second great movement of time, in which a period of lenten testing leads to a season of Eastertide, culminating in Pentecost and the departure (ascension) of Christ and coming of the Holy Spirit.  In a word, the birth of the church; both Epiphany and Pentecost more universal in scope and meaning.

*****

Put differently, modernity is not only about competing institutions (State vs church) or iconography or language, moving from sacred to secular, but different conceptions of time:  2014. Heisei 26, and liturgical advent all have competing understandings of where we currently are and where we're headed temporally speaking.