By Bishop Stephen Chow Sau Yan, SJ
When I was residing in the United States years ago, there used to be an expression to describe the depressing experiences running from Advent to Christmas —“pre-Christmas blues.” With all the shopping for Christmas gifts and meals, including “comparison shopping and meals,” getting ready for parties, decorating the house, etc., all these frantic activities and anxieties could contribute to the blue mood or melancholy for some. Maybe the closest experience for us Chinese is the preparation for the Lunar New Year, especially when the financial condition of the household is already weak.
It may be true that the religious and clerics may not have to worry so much about preparing Christmas gifts, dinners and parties. Nonetheless, depending on the ministries, there will be different activities leading up to Christmas, such as pre-Christmas activities in schools, high season for weddings in Hong Kong, pre-Christmas parties and related events to attend, preparing homilies for the upcoming liturgies, etc. Although I cannot say that I was suffering from the pre-Christmas blues, I was busy enough that I missed paying due attention to the spirit of Advent.
Last year, being my first since my episcopal ordination, was the busiest Advent in my life. The numbers of Masses, meetings, homilies, and the Christmas message from the bishop to the people of Hong Kong were staggering. I could truly feel the suffocating burden on myself until sometime after Christmas. This month-long exhausting experience was not something that I have ever had in the past. It made me wonder what was I celebrating and for what purposes. Would that repeat itself every year? Is there anything I can do to ensure that Advent does not become an annual period of anxiety and blues?
There are blues, and there is salem blue. It is one of the beautiful colours of the dawn sky. In recent years, some churches have adopted the colour for their vestments of the Advent season. This colour signifies the sun at dawn, a symbol of light breaking through the fading night sky, introducing this special colour. Instead of the darkening blue mood, salem blue speaks for faith and hope in the Light. Such a positive colour for Advent should give us hope as we anticipate the Second Coming of our ever-loving Lord Jesus Christ and our Immanuel, who became our history and future, accompanying us from his first coming.
So, which colour would I want to pick for Advent? Is it that difficult to guess? The challenge for me is how to help myself dive into this transforming process from pitch black to salem blue or from godlessness to an intimate relationship with the God of Light—allowing God to be at the centre of my busy life by practising the Ignatian contemplative in action rather than letting busyness become the centre of my life. This will depend on my determination and the understanding of those who request for my service.
Take a break and allow ourselves to have the much-needed interior space for Christ, who desires to have a dwelling place in our hearts and to be with us. A blessed Advent season to you!
+ Stephen Chow, SJ
