Handout on Advent Season (Part of the Final exams Term 2)

—What does Advent Mean?

—Advent is a term from the Latin word 'adventus' which means "arrival".

—It is a time of waiting for the arrival of Christmas, the coming of Jesus to earth when he was born as a baby at Bethlehem about two thousand years ago.

—What is Advent?

—Advent is the new year of the Christian Church and the church season that leads to Christmas Day.

—Advent is the time when Christians remember that Jesus came into the world in Palestine 2000 years ago and that Jesus also promised one day to return in all His glory.

—Clergy typically wear royal purple or royal blue (symbol of hope)vestments during Advent. Many churches also include an advent wreath(sometimes called an Advent ring or crown) in their Advent services.

—The Christian Year

—Christian year---follows the life of Jesus. It begins with Advent Sunday - which is the Christian church, is 'New Year's Day'.

—Easter Sunday---The most important day of the year will be the day on which Jesus came back to life - but before that festival, there will be other special days to look forward to. At the end of Advent, there will be Jesus' birthday (Christmas Day )

—What happens during Advent?

—During the season of Advent, Christians across the world prepare for the celebration of the arrival of the Lord into the world through the birth of his Son Jesus Christ. Advent is a time to celebrate light in the midst of darkness. It is also a time to look forward to when Jesus will come a second time.

—The beginning of Advent is when the preparations for Christmas really begin - the festive menu is planned, gifts are chosen and wrapped,  carols sung, cards are written and posted and houses decorated

—History of Advent

—In the 5th Century, Advent began on November 11 (St Martin's Day) and took the form of a six week fast leading to Christmas. During the 6th century, Advent was reduced to its current length and later the fasting was dropped.

Advent Customs and Traditions

—The Advent Wreath

—The Advent Wreath is the widely recognized symbol of Advent.

—The wreath is made of a circle of evergreen branches laid flat to symbolize eternal life. Four candles (traditionally red) stand in the circle and each one represents one of the four Sundays of Advent. In the centre of the circle is a fifth candle (traditionally white), the Christ Candle, which is lit on Christmas Day.

—Why is the Advent Wreath so special to Christians?

—The circle of the wreath reminds Christians of God, His eternity and endless mercy, which has no beginning or end.

—The green of the wreath speaks of the hope that Christians have in God, the hope of newness, of renewal, of eternal life.

—Candles on the Advent Wreath

—Advent worship is like a journey through the Christmas story. Christians use the Advent candles to celebrate this period with one lit every Sunday of Advent so that during the last week before Christmas all four candles are lit. The last central candle (which represents Christ), is lit on Christmas Day.

 

—What do the Advent candles stand for?

—Candles symbolise the light of God coming into the world through the birth of His son, Jesus.

—The four traditional advent themes for the four advent Sundays are:

—God's people -The Candle of Hope.
Hope is like a light shining in a dark place. As we look at the light of this candle we celebrate the hope we have in Jesus Christ.

—The old testament prophets - The Candle of Peace
Peace is like a light shining in a dark place. As we look at this candle we celebrate the peace we find in Jesus Christ.

—John the Baptist - The Candle of Love Love is like a candle shining in a dark place. As we look at the light of this candle we celebrate the love we have in Christ.

—Mary the mother of Jesus - The Candle of Joy
Joy is like a light shining in a dark place. As we look at this candle we celebrate the joy we find in Jesus Christ.

—The fifth candle represents the birth of Christ. The flame of this candle remind us that He is the light of the world and that if we follow Him, we will never walk in darkness, but will have the true light of life.

 

Love Relationship

by: Migs Ramos


      In my own perspective, it’s never too late to learn the lessons of life. That is why I somewhat don’t advise a romantic relationship as early as high school. It may be a stepping stone towards life itself, but having such a distinction adds to the many priorities that students are faced with, in school. I think that there are better moments or times in life wherein a person has to go through this stage of life. I think that having a relationship at a very young age can cause distractions which distance the young ‘lovers’ from their priorities.
      Actually, it’s not really bad to have a relationship at a very early age. It’s a part of most of every person’s life, and of which defines life itself. The lovers must just know their limitations and know what comes first, and that those are their priorities in education, and such. People say, love can come at a time when you least expect it to, and it may happen as early as high school or even grade school. For me, it’s just about knowing what’s right, and knowing what’s first. I say that if people would want to have a relationship at an early of an age, then they should definitely be ready for what’s to come.

Disciplining with Iron Fist

by: Migs Ramos


      I don’t stand for parents using Iron Fist against their children. To start off, the most evident reason on why parents use Iron Fist is to discipline the child, but it’ll come at too much of a cost, for hurting a child is never just. Furthermore, it does not always come to a conclusion that when a parent uses Iron fist, the child gets disciplined. The child may then find ways to avoid his/her parents which defeats the purpose of Filial Love.
      I find it immoral to hurt children in order to discipline them because there are definitely better ways in order to discipline children. Moreover, parents don’t only use Iron Fist for discipline. Sometimes, Iron Fist is used for no apparent reason. 
      It’s never right to hurt someone. More likely, if there were no reason behind it anyways. I stand for the disuse of Iron Fist in order to discipline or whatever purpose is behind it, whether there may be one. I think that if disciplining is an issue to be reckoned with, there should be more just and rightful ways to eliminate the problem. After all, we all live in a world where its inhabitants long to find peace.

Armor

by: Ica Velarde

      This gospel talks about how Jesus told his disciples the troubles they are bound to get in to because of his name. He told them vividly the tragedies that will come to them but he told them that would not be harmed because their perseverance will keep them safe.
      Though I know of all the hardships that come with faith, I will not stop on exercising my faith because it is the only thing that will protect me from all things evil. This gospel only makes my faith stronger; I know I should not be afraid to face all of it because God is there for me. I don’t think I need to explain how I feel that God is there for me all the time because it is pretty evident that he is. I wouldn’t manage to go through the downs of life if he weren’t there.
      I will not stop praying and paying my blessings forward because I will not lose anything if I do so, I’ll only gain more. I will try my best to find ways to live a life the way Jesus did, to become of service to others and to become an instrument of love and peace. Examples of these ways are outreaches, tree plantings, GK builds and the like.
      We should all start building our armors with our faith. A lot of things will come and hit us because of what we believe in therefore we should start living a life that will nourish the faith we have for God. Our faiths should only grow stronger through time and we should only grow fonder of standing up for him. At the end of the day our lives here on earth won’t mean a thing, the only thing that would matter is our faith, our armor.

The Sweetest Consequence

by: Ica Velarde 

      “But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”, this line reveals that one day Jesus will come back and judge us once and for all, he won’t look for riches nor beauty or other earthly luxuries, instead he will look for one thing FAITH. I think that in the end the only thing that will really matter is our faith so we better start investing in our faith rather than material things. We can establish good faith by seeking God at all times so that when our time comes he will be seeking us because we have devoted our lives to him. 

      As a young adult, a lot of challenges and confusions face me in my life. Sometimes I don’t know how to handle the stress of it all, sometimes I want to give up and just stop. But then at my darkest hours, I remember this man, this one man who stood up for cowards like me and then I realize how I should fight my own sins because he died on that cross to build warriors like me. And for that, I don’t know how to repay him except through prayers. I don’t get answers right away but that doesn’t mean I have to stop calling out to him, I know all the time I spend on praying will be worth it because the answer I want to get doesn’t always come the way I want it to get to me.
      Praying is not a short time thing; it’s not a favour you just ask. It’s like a text message you need to send no matter how bad the signal gets. It’s the only thing we can depend on when the entire world is gone, no matter how much to pray nothing will go wrong for you, and that is the sweetest consequence.

Valuing Human Relationships

by: Carlo Alejo Senior A


Topic #1:
      Parents should not use be harmful when it comes to disciplining their children. One reason as to why parents should not do this is because their children are most likely to be traumatized by their parents in such a way that it affects their performance in school. Parents should be considerate and listen to their children’s problems and take time to sit down and talk with them. Sometimes, people just need someone to listen to them when they are frustrated. But even if one of the parents is frustrated at one of his children, the parent must never harm the child. We’ll never know, maybe when the child grows up, he too will be like his parents and be rough to his offspring.
Topic #2:
      In my opinion, it is perfectly normal to have relationships in high school just as long as it doesn’t become the priority of any of the two people involved. I believe that it is during our years in high school that we make most of our mistakes in life. With this, we must learn from these mistakes and not do them again when faced with a similar problem. You can learn a lot from these relationships and most probably make a lot of mistakes as well. Based on personal experience, a relationship must not become the center of your life as there are many other important things to worry about such as school work, extra-curricular activities and family matters. Having a relationship in high school is pretty much where you would learn what and what not to do in a relationship. You could be making mistakes as early as now, so you would know how to deal with them if ever they happened again.

Gospel reflection

by: Nina Munson

 The gospel last Sunday came from the book of Luke. Jesus said to the people, while they were talking about how the temple was made of costly stones, that in the future all of these stones will be gone. They asked Jesus when that day will come and what the signs were of what He spoke of; Jesus just told them that there would be wars, earthquakes, famine and plagues. Jesus told them that the believers of Christ will be saved.

      At the start of the gospel, they were talking about precious stones in which will disappear. These are the materials that aren’t really essential to us when the world ends. Though destruction will happen in the world, believers of Chris will be saved, meaning that the people will be saved and go to heaven in peace.

      When the world does end, we will be prepared for we know that Jesus is by our side protecting us from harm. We will be confident that God will gladly take us back to the promise land we deserve. For now, we must sacrifice and just do what is right till the time comes for us to be with Him.