While the character of this blog has shifted a bit over the years, one thing I’ve done every year is a series, whether big or small, honouring the season of Advent. This page is a home for all those resources.
2018: Exile and Anticipation
A short, two-part series exploring two sides of the Advent season.
2019: The ‘O Antiphons’
A series reflecting on the ‘O Antiphons’, short hymns traditionally sung within Vespers in the last week of Advent. (These antiphons were also the inspiration for the verses in the better-known Advent hymn ‘O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.)
- O Sapientia (Wisdom): Stop, Look, and Listen
- O Adonai (Lord): With Outstretched Arm
- O Radix Iesse (Root of Jesse): Never Too Late
- O Clavis David (Key of David): The God Who Frees
- O Oriens (Morning Star): Where am I pointed?
- O Rex Gentium (King of the Nations): Questions of Authority
- O Immanuel: God is with Us
2020: People Look East
A series reflecting on the verses of the wonderfully rich Advent hymn ‘People Look East.’
- People Look East: Set the Table
- People Look East: Furrows Be Glad
- People Look East: When Night is Dim
- People Look East: Set Every Peak and Valley Humming
2021: Signs of the Times
A series exploring the idea of perceiving and understanding ‘the signs of the times’.
- Signs of the Times: An Advent Reflection on Luke 21.25-36
- Signs of the Times: The Christmas Difference
- Signs of the Times: STOP
- Signs of the Times: LOOK
- Signs of the Times: LISTEN
2022: Waiting for God
A series looking at Advent through the messianic oracles of the Prophet Isaiah.
- Waiting for God
- Hope of the Nations: An Advent Reflection on Isaiah 2.1-5
- All Is Not Lost: An Advent Reflection on the Remnant in Isaiah 1-12
- Life from Death: An Advent Reflection on Isaiah 11.1-10
- New Life on the Way: An Advent Reflection on Isaiah 35
- A Voice in the Wilderness: An Advent Reflection on Isaiah 40
- With Us Within the Ambiguity of Life: An Advent Reflection on Isaiah 7.10-17
- Joy and Sorrow, Excitement and Anxiety: An Advent Reflection on Isaiah 52-53
2023: Coming Soon
A series looking at the four traditional Advent themes of Love, Hope, Peace, and Joy
Matthew Root 