A Reflection for Advent

The Revd Canon Aidan Platten, Canon Precentor at Norwich Cathedral, shares a message for Advent.

Watch the video message above and read the full text below.

"Welcome to a part of the Cathedral that people rarely see - up in the Heavenly heights of the Nave.

This is the Nave vault, so below me are the famous bosses, and a little behind me is the winch, which holds up the Advent Crown in this season of Advent on which we have four candles.

Each candle represents a different person or group of people.

The first one represents the patriarchs, people like Abraham and David.

And then we have the prophets, people like Isaiah, who prophesied that a virgin would conceive and bear a son and call His name Emmanuel, God with us.

And then the third candle, the pink candle, reminds us of John the Baptist, who was the forerunner of Jesus.

And then the fourth one, the blessed Virgin Mary, who bore Jesus into the world.

The prophets were those who told people what was about to happen. They weren't fortune tellers, but they understood the science of both humankind and the world around them.

And prophets were quite often slightly unpopular people. Prophets can bring you the news that is difficult to hear, yet the news that we need to hear if the world is going to be a better place.

There are prophets in our own day. There are those who are reminding us of the strain under which the earth is at the moment, prophesying of the change in the climate.

There are prophets who remind us of the need to be more inclusive, to shed aside prejudice, and to welcome all people as our brothers and sisters in humanity and our brothers and sisters in Christ.

In this moment of Advent, as we prepare for the coming of Jesus, as we remember that amazing moment when God came to be one of us in a baby.

This is a moment to prepare our hearts and minds and to be open to the prophecies that are around us.

How are you and I going to respond to the needs of the world around us, in people, in place, and in the fruits of the earth?"

All are welcome to join us for Norwich Cathedral’s Advent Procession at 6pm on Sunday 30 November.