ADVENT: A Time of Waiting and Preparing

The Church is celebrating the beginning of a new liturgical year with the First Sunday of Advent. The word, Advent, comes from the Latin ad venio, “to come.” The Liturgical season anticipates the coming of the Lord. It is a season filled with preparation and expectation. Have you noticed, beginning right after the busy Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends, a spirit of
expectation picks up momentum. Everyone is getting ready for Christmas: shopping, baking, cleaning, parties, gift wrapping, decorations and lights are everywhere. Something wonderful is about to happen.

In the midst of all this hustle and bustle of the season, let us as Catholic Christians try to keep Advent energies focused as a season waiting for the Lord, not as an infant on December 25, because he has already come, but as Our LORD and SAVIOR. During advent, we wait in joy, in hope, and in anticipation for the wonderful event that we are about to experience --- the feast of Christmas, the coming of Jesus into our lives in a new way.

God is alive and active in us when we read and study God’s word which will be proclaimed during the liturgy and when we let him into our hearts. Advent is a special time to experience our longing for the presence of Jesus right now, in all the areas that we need him the most. Let us look deeply within our hearts where Jesus has not been, where we have not allowed him
access.