My friend, Rusty, has written an Advent essay,Third Sunday of Advent, 2011 – Peace.
“Imagine all the world, living in peace.”
“I have a dream!”
Noble sentiments, yet the authors of those statements died unexpected, violent deaths.
So true, and so sad.
Thoughts on true peace for this season.
Reposted from 12/09/07, Some Advent history:
Originally Advent was a preparatory time somewhat like Lent- it’s liturgical colors of purple and violet calling up penance, fasting, and repentance. We have exchanged that for the often forced gaiety of prolonged Christmas celebrating. No wonder we get tired! I like downplaying the secular clamor and rush for as much quiet soul-preparing contemplation as possible, which is definitely not easy, going against the flow as it is.
It impresses me how relevant the Gospel of Christ is despite our best efforts to distort it. I think that the difficulty of depression and disappointment many have at Christmastime is due to the distortions of unmet expectations. This whole frantic jolliness is not in line with the Gospel or the Christmas story as it is recorded in the Bible, and it is very out of sync with how people really live.
It is not practical to expect that we will somehow go back to a penitent period of preparation for Christmas, and for many of us who have had a ‘born-again’ experience, we won’t look at Christmas as a time when we visit the “Christ Child” in some sort of time warp, but we will, and can approach Christmas with a little more solemnity and awe than the ubiquitous Santa’s and screaming ‘buy it all’ mentality would have it.
Continue reading Advent and Penance
New Covenant, Rusty Lopez, posts on “hope”. Poem, thoughts, and photo not to be missed.
I have started my own Advent week’s set of devotions.
I have two that I like.
Hungarian Pastries (Kifli)
* An 8 oz. block of cream cheese
* 2 sticks butter(1 cup)
* 2 1/2 cup flour
* Apricot preserves
Method
(1) Cream butter and creamcheese.
(2) Add flour roll out thin Cut into rectangles or use circle cookie cutter
(3) Fill rounds with spoonful of jam Pinch closed and place on ungreased cookie sheet
(4) Bake at 350 F. til golden (10 min.?) (5) Turn over in confectioners sugar to coat.
Kifli
dough:
4 c. unsifted flour
2 c. butter
4 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1 c. dairy sour cream
1 egg, beaten
filling:
1 1/4 lb. walnuts (ground)
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. milk
1 Tbsp. almond extract
2 egg whites whipped
(1)Cut butter into flour with pastry blender
til mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add egg
yolks and sour cream. Stir.
Turn out on lightly floured surface
knead until smooth and shape into ball. (If
too sticky, use more flour.)
Refrigerate
(2)Filling: Combine nuts, sugar, milk, extract,
and egg white; blend well.
(3) Heat oven to 400 degrees and grease cookie
sheets.
(4)On floured surface, roll out quarter of dough
at a time to measure,16 by 12 inches,1/4 inch
thick. Cut into 2 inch squares.
(5)Place generous 1/2 tsp. filling in each square,
then overlap two opposite corners. Pinch edges
to seal. Place on cookie sheets and brush
with beaten egg.
(6)Bake 10 to 12 minutes til golden. Roll in
confectioners sugar.
I actually have all my favorite cooky recipes on the net…inside the Christmas Page I made. Not updated, but hey- I blog now.
======Christmas 2009=========
**** That was then. Now I do update the Christmas Page which has it’s own domain and everything 🙂
