[Sundaycommunity] Fwd: Advent Reflections - An Invitation

[Mary MacMillan]

I was moved today when reading Rev. Jason Myers sermon and reflection on
Advent.
He is the minister at Metropolitan United Church where John and I were
married when I was an elder there. It was the middle of advent and this
minister was not yet born but he is doing a find service to the entire
community at Church and Queen.

Enjoy!
Mary

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Met Advent Reflections <elisabethb at metunited.ca>
Date: Mon, Dec 1, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Subject: Advent Reflections - An Invitation
To: Mary Elizabeth <maryemacmillan at gmail.com>


Reflections from our community this Advent
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*Advent Reflection, December 1 - The Rev. Jason Meyers*
*This is sample of the Advent Reflections where members of our community
will reflect on the daily lectionary readings in this transformative time
in the church year. You are not currently signed up, so if you would like
to continue receiving this series each weekday until Dec 24th, please reply
to this email and let Elisabeth in the church office know. If you do not
wish to subscribe, you don’t need to do anything - this will be the last
one you receive.*

*For as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and
they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so, too,
will be the coming of the Son of Man.* Matthew 24:38-39

Our service yesterday
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-
the first Sunday of Advent - is always one of my favourite of the year. As
I told Rev. Bill before we processed in with the choir: "this is one of
those days where the liturgy is like a wave, and all we need to do is ride
it." The old stories told afresh in word and song, the flicker of new light
even in the growing darkness, the deep theology of incarnation expected,
the embodied act of remembrance in Eucharist - what a wave it was! And then
after the service, many of us continued to ride the wave out into the
neighbourhood to our new pub-home, McVeigh's, where the church formed again
through the sharing of food and fellowship, with the trad-Celtic tunes
keeping the beat in the background. All very good!

But here's the thing about waves... sometimes we ride them, and sometimes
they hit us broadside. Sometimes it even feels like we are being swept
away, barely able to keep our heads above water. This season can be a lot.
A lot of stress - financial and sometimes familial, where complicated
relationships come into close proximity. A lot of busyness - many places to
be, people to see, expectations to meet, and the pressure that comes with
that. And for many of us, this season also brings a great deal grief, where
memory and the loss of loved ones feel especially present. The reality is
that these next weeks will likely bring a mixture of things for us.
Sometimes we will feel joyful and sometimes we will be overwhelmed, and
just want the wave to pass. And all that is OK, because that's what is real.

If you were part of the service yesterday, you would have heard me say that
this year, our focus for the Advent season is to help us ask good questions
to discern what is "really real" as we tune our hearts to recognize God's
in-breaking into human history and experience. Even in (especially in) this
age of disinformation, where powerful forces benefit from keeping us
isolated, in the church, we affirm that the spiritual journey must be a
shared journey. And so, over the next weeks leading up to Christmas,
through these Advent reflections, will hear from many different members of
our community. We will hear where they see God at work in the world; what
they are struggling with; what is "really real" on this sometimes choppy
journey of faith that we take alongside each other as a community of Christ.

Surfs up,

Jason.

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