The Season of Advent - Gregorian Chant from the monks of Pluscarden Abbey and
The Benedictine Monks of Pluscarden Abbey - PAXATERNA - Tom Donald
“The day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then with a roar the sky will vanish, the elements will catch fire and fall apart, the earth and all it contains will be burnt up.”
A striking feature of prophecy in Holy Scripture is its tendency to pass back and forth between weal and woe; between consolation and rebuke; between joyful promise and terrifying threat. This feature also marks the Advent season, which more than any other is a season of prophecy. Advent prophesies, or prepares us for, the coming of Christ.
Three times in today’s Gospel Jesus calls on us to stay awake. Here we are, once again, at the beginning of Advent: so once again we have a new start, and with it a new wake-up call. Advent issues us a new summons, or a new invitation : to sharpen our focus, to break out of our spiritual sloth; to direct all our attention ever anew towards Jesus.
Sunday 26 November 2023, the Feast of Christ the King, marked the closing of Pluscarden Kirk; a landmark building that is noted by everyone who approaches the Abbey from the Elgin side. So ends official Presbyterean worship in our valley. This began not with the Scottish Reformation in 1560, but only in about 1736, when the first Kirk Minister was appointed.
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