Young Adult Group members headed to Vitense Golfland for an evening of mini golf and fellowship in August. (pictured)

Advent, Retirement, and Rhythm

A brief reflection on change is a fitting topic for what will be my last newsletter article, at least as the SMG Young Adult Group Coordinator. Thinking back to when I started in this role in mid-2020 brings to mind the opening line of the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy – “The world is changed.” The Parish and the Young Adult group have changed as well – and I am excited for the changes yet to come.

When I took on the coordinator position, I insisted on having “interim” in the title, hoping that someone more qualified than I would step in. History became legend, legend became myth, and somewhere along the line the “interim” was lost. Life has gotten busier and I have grown older, so a new bearer of this title has been chosen – Graham Mueller, assisted by Hannah Kostuch. If you meet either of them, thank them for their service – they’ve already been doing an excellent job.

Change + Permanence = Rhythm

The well-worn maxim holds that change is the only constant in life. And so it is. But let’s reflect on a Christian understanding of change. One of the Young Adult men’s small groups recently finished reading The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. I’ll spare you a summary beyond recommending you read the book (it’s short!), but will quote from Letter 25: “He [God] has contrived to gratify both tastes together in the very world He has made, by that union of change and permanence which we call Rhythm…He gives them in His Church a spiritual ear; they change from a fast to a feast, but it is the same feast as before.”

Advent, for the Christian, is not just the period leading up to the orgy of consumerism that secularized Christmas has become. Advent is the joyfully penitential fast before the feast, the eager housecleaning before a long-awaited visitor arrives. While the world may wake up December 26 feeling an empty sense of “That was it?”, the Christian celebrates Jesus’s Incarnation at Christmas until January 6 (and until February 2 if you’re feeling traditional).

Hold Fast To What Endures

The changes the Christmas cycle brings blend into a Rhythm: breaking the Advent wreath out of storage, marking each week by lighting another candle, welcoming the newborn King at Christmas, and savoring the glow of the holiday even as you pin a new calendar to the wall. And next year, God willing, you’ll do it all again – hopefully having grown in virtue and submission of your will to Christ. The Young Adult Group will change without me, and my life will continue to evolve. But I hope that this group dedicated to the sanctification and socialization of parishioners in their 20s and 30s will endure for years to come.

I encourage all young adults, whether you are new to the parish or have been here for a while, to follow us on Facebook or join our weekly email list to get connected and learn about upcoming events.

In closing, here is part of the Prayer After Communion from the 1st Sunday of Advent, which originated in the 6th century: “Even now, as we walk amid passing things, You teach us by them to love the things of Heaven and hold fast to what endures.”