Topic: Hope

Advent faith believes in the possibility of surprise, and that our tragic and repetitive history has a punch-line which will overturn everything that we have been taught to expect.

In baptism, we have passed from the preoccupations of the present to the a life shaped by God’s future, and though the completion of that transformation may be painful, it is nevertheless the fulfilling of our deepest longings.

Advent is a time of deep paradox, a season that speaks to the reality of our world and calls us to be awake.

The answers to the questions about our future directions are not easy, but we can trust the God who holds our future in his hands.

God invites us to be immersed in another possible reality, to look at the world with the dark and contrary light that comes from the cross of Jesus.

God is always acting, but often in surprising and paradoxical ways. The ways of God often reverse human expectations.

In the midst of horror and despair, Christ arrives with love enough, with peace enough, with hope enough to make things very, very, very different.

The Advent season is a gift that illumines our present with light from our promised goal, to shape us as a people of patient and vigilant faithfulness.

The hope that empowers us to maintain our counter-cultural obedience to Christ, is that the One who will eventually rule over all is the One who offers himself as a suffering servant of all.

Hope is a courageous and active stance towards life which is nourished in those who attend to the voice of God in Scripture.

God sees us, the baptised, as having the appearance of Christ, which gives us reason to believe in ourselves and live up to it.

Locating our struggles within the bigger picture of God’s purposes can give hope and purpose, but it also places us in a challenging place of priestly mission.