Stir up the will of your faithful, we pray, O Lord,
that, striving more eagerly to bring your divine work to
fruitful completion,
they may receive in greater measure the healing remedies
your kindness bestows.
Fr James said we would normally be making our Christmas pudding this week and as we 'stir' the pudding mixture, we would say the above prayer.
And our God is the greatest pudding maker as he stirs us up to do his will, which I have experienced personally in the last 24 hours.
However, many of us, including myself, no longer make Christmas pudding and I am planning to go to the shops to buy a Christmas pudding today. It is very sad we are slowly losing our tradition in preparing for Christmas and all this preparation has been reduced to office parties, buying presents, getting drunk and in this process we are also losing our identity.
In some 'Christian' countries some people have even stopped saying Merry Christmas but happy holidays!
Most Christians are also completely unaware that our Christian New Year begins this Sunday with a new liturgical calendar on the first Sunday of Advent. Advent is a time for waiting, yet we have forgotten this.
Fr Alan Fudge used to say who would go and have a party to celebrate the birth of a child before the child was born. However, we all do now - we sing Christmas carols before Christmas, we go to Christmas parties before Christmas etc.
So, I am very pleased Delia Smith wrote in Waitrose Weekend recently her perfect Christmas bakes recipes which includes Christmas cake, Christmas pudding, mincemeat, mince pies and stollen.
How many of us are actually making these and how many of us are just buying these from the shops?
May God bless you and help you to celebrate Advent by waiting for our Lord.
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