Advent is a time to wait for the Sacred Trinity

Friday, Dec. 12, 2014

DRAPER — People from Logan to Payson attended the annual diocesan Advent retreat at Saint John the Baptist Parish Dec. 6 to learn ways to spiritually await the coming of Christ on Christmas Day.

“Advent is the time we welcome the way of Christ, the Sacred Trinity of three in one,” said Father Christopher Gray, the guest presenter, who is parochial vicar at Saints Peter and Paul Parish. 

Fr. Gray wove Advent songs throughout his talk, and used PowerPoint slides as he explained the meaning of Advent. 

The retreat was held on the Feast of Saint Nicholas, which is significant because St. Nicholas was present at the Council of Nicea in 325 AD, when more than 300 bishops from all over the Christian world debated the nature of the Holy Trinity. Arius was teaching that Jesus, the son of God, was not equal to God the Father; Nicholas became outraged at this heresy and punched Arius and was stripped of his bishop’s garments and thrown into jail, Fr. Gray said. 

Nicholas prayed for forgiveness and during the night Jesus and Mary appeared to him. Mary gave him a liturgical stole so he would again be dressed as a bishop the next day when the jailer found him. The Emperor Constantine freed Nicholas and he was fully reinstated as the Bishop of Myra.

Fr. Gray went on to say Advent is the time when we welcome Christ, “thus the Trinity,” he said. “Christ is not less than God; he is truly God and truly human. He is the little babe, the Lamb of God.” 

Fr. Gray gave three ways to understand the Lord. 

Jesus is the Lamb of God, he is benign and he is the obedient lamb that is described as the judge of the world, said Fr. Gray. 

As Fr. Gray proceeded through his talk he introduced Advent music. After singing People, Look East, he pointed out that Jesus is the light; all that is needed. “In Advent, we look to the east, where Christ is in his presence.”

Fr. Gray concluded with the Advent theme of “being awake and alert,” and how Pope Francis said, “The Church’s destination is the new Paradise – ‘We all shall be together when the king shall come again, when things shall be revealed and made known.’”

The second coming of Christ “will be a time of rejoicing,” Fr. Gray said. “The lamb’s obedient suffering opened the door for us. We live the seasons year after year, and the glory of heaven is waiting for us.”

Romnel Tan said for him the retreat was not just a time to prepare for Christmas, it was also “a time to prepare for the end of the world. It awakened my spirit to a time when I was a child and told to always be ready for the Lord’s coming,” he said. “The retreat also allowed me to think of the theology of the songs and analyze the church music more deeply. I’m a musician and I love singing.”

Fr. Gray’s talk “allowed me to think about this little unblemished innocent lamb being also the lion of Judah,” said Susan Northway, director of Religious Education in the Diocese of Salt Lake City. 

“I liked how he brought the two contrasts of the Lion of Judah filled with strength and might to save his people and contrasted the use of strength and might to save, with how the devil uses his strength and might to devour people,” said Lisa Smith, a St. John the Baptist parishioner.

“I took away the power of faith, especially in this dark time in the world; Advent is a season of hope,” said Dr. Richard Sherlock, Utah State University philosophy professor.

(Fr. Gray was scheduled to present his retreat in Spanish in the afternoon of Dec. 6, but that was cancelled because he was ill.)