Fourth Week

The week of Dec 17 we celebrate the third week of Advent. Next week, or to be more precise, one day we celebrate the fourth week of Advent. The fourth week of Advent is like me, a middle child. We are always squeezed by the older siblings and younger siblings, and the fourth week of Advent is squeezed between the end of the third week and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Because Christmas falls on Monday this year, the fourth week of Advent is a day, just one day. Yet, the 4th Sunday of Advent is a religious event, not a secular event, so it is not even a day. It is, maybe, 16 hours. I came up with sixteen hours as the time from midnight to 4 pm; why 4pm?  Four in the afternoon happens to be the time when a mass, in this situation Christmas Eve mass, counts to Christmas Day. So, sixteen hours maximum. By the church calendar, the fourth week gets short shifted, just like a middle child. If a household has an Advent wreath, that wreath, I suspect, is only lite during the evening meal, not at breakfast or at lunch. Many persons now start celebrating Christmas on Christmas Eve, and Christmas Eve is the 4th Sunday of Advent. It does not take a genius to know what takes precedence. It is not lighting that fourth purple candle. As a middle child, I can certainly sympathize with the fourth purple candle. 

Advent Wreath, Google Images

Middle children, are well, caught in the middle. But, that allows us to build resilience. We are not used to attention, and we go on working hard and doing what is required of us. Yet, there are more practical ways in which we middle children were affected. In terms of clothes, got both hand me-downs and hand me-ups. For my college graduation, I wore the suit my younger brother wore to his 8th grade graduation. One thing about us middle children, we were at the vanguard of the reuse movement. In society today, there are fewer and fewer middle children, and our general culture may well be the worse for it.

The fourth Sunday of Advent, gets little attention. The first week of advent is exciting as we prepare for Christmas, and that carries over to the second week. Then comes the third week of rejoicing as the day draws near. Heck, the third week even gets its own special Advent color candle--rose, or pink. Then there is that fourth week  of Advent, ignored as much as a middle child, but still resilient in playing its role no matter how short its week is. It really does not get much respect, either by people, or even the Liturgical Calendar. Middle children have their own day, August 12. This choice speaks a great deal, as it is only a five days after the middle of the summer solstice. I am not sure who made this selection, but I guess it is better than 3 Feb, which is halfway through the winter solstice and the day after Groundhog's day. 

Malcom in the Middle, he may be the most famous 
middle child, due to the television show.
I only saw part of the show once or twice

Of course, last year Christmas was on a Sunday, which meant there was a whole week of days of the fourth week of Advent, but since Christmas Eve was on a Saturday, it really fell a day short. I am not sure the fourth week of Advent is able to build much resilience since its days change so regularly. Next year, because of a leap year, the fourth Sunday of Advent will be three days. Maybe Pope Gregory, when setting the Gregorian Calendar (went into effect in 1582), decided to throw an extra day to the fourth week of Advent. Although that is countermanded by the leap year of 2028, as in 2028 we will be in the same situation as this year--Christmas on a Monday, and the fourth week of Advent being less than one day. Like a middle child, the fourth Sunday of Advent just cannot get a break. 

Yet, like us middle children, the Rodney Dangerfield's of the family, the fourth Sunday of Advent, the Rodney Dangerfield of Advent, keeps showing its resilience, by showing up every year, no matter how short it is celebrated. Here is to the 16 hour celebration of the fourth week of Advent. May its star shine bright in its short lifespan.