Diocesan Advent retreat to help 'make the hearth ready'

Friday, Nov. 14, 2014

SALT LAKE CITY — Advent, that period in the Church’s calendar when Catholics prepare for the coming of Christ, is a time to ponder the inexplicable: death, the final judgment, heaven and hell. 

If the thought of contemplating the unknowable makes you uncomfortable, the 2014 Diocese of Salt Lake City Advent Retreat may ease your distress, as Father Christopher Gray, parochial vicar of Saints Peter and Paul Parish, will relate Advent hymns to discuss what it means to be in the company of the saints forever.

Scripture gives allegories about what Heaven will be like, but it remains a mystery, because despite these descriptions, “it has to be better in every way. It has to be incomparably more than,” Fr. Gray said. “Even though we can’t comprehend it, we are called to think about it,” so that we can draw closer to God.

The coming of Christ at Bethlehem has already occurred, and Christ constantly arrives in our hearts by means of grace, especially the sacraments, but what his final coming will entail is unknown. Pondering this doesn’t help Catholics in everyday life, but it is important in developing a relationship with Christ, Fr. Gray added.

“You have to think about this stuff, and you’re not going to think about it if you don’t hear it, which is why it’s important to have a theological discussion about the holy things that our everyday lives do not force us to ponder, because that’s how we hear them; that’s how we consider them,” he said. “That’s how our faith grows. How can we contemplate that which we do not know?”

Advent hymns are useful in the discussion of the coming of Christ because, although on a superficial level they all say “Christmas is coming,” their deeper meaning asks “how does this prepare us for the final judgment?” Fr. Gray said.

He hopes that the retreat will be a spiritual experience, that people will take away “awe, wonder, a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Terror for the world to come. Desire for the will to make the hearth ready, to set the table and stay repentant; and if necessary, to change the course” of their actions so that they are a better reflection of Christian life, he said.

 

WHAT: Diocesan Advent Retreat

WHEN: Saturday, Dec. 6; English session 8:30 a.m. – noon and Spanish session 12:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.

WHERE: Saint John the Baptist Catholic Church, 300 East 11800 South in Draper

Registration is $5 by Dec. 2; $8 at the door. For information or to register, call 801-328-8641 ext. 322 for English or ext. 361 for Spanish.