WEEKLY REFLECTION 

It’s Advent! 

No, it is not January 1, but the Church year is distinctive. It always begins on the first Sunday of Advent, and with it comes a shift in the cycle of readings. The feast of Christ the King signaled the end of Ordinary Time. 

Advent is the four-week liturgical season that precedes Christmas. The term “Advent” is derived from the Latin word adventus which means “coming,” and it focuses not only on the past coming of Jesus on the first Christmas; but also on the present coming of Jesus in the gospels, the sacraments, other people, prayer, love, truth, and personal experience; and the future coming of Jesus at the Second or Final Coming at the end of the world, the Parousia or the Last Judgment. 

Advent emphasizes hope and joy. It is a liturgical season that encourages us to remember what we need to add to our lives, and it lasts for four Sundays. Advent stresses preparation with festivity, and the words of the prophet Isaiah, who speaks of light and hope. 

The main saint of Advent is John the Baptist. He is “the prophet of the Most High” (Luke 1:76), the immediate forerunner of Jesus, and the link between the Old Testament prophets and Jesus himself. His story is recounted on the Second and Third Sundays of Advent. If we hope to have a spiritually profitable Advent, we, like the Baptist, must diminish, while Jesus increases in power and brilliance in our lives. 

Courtesy Fr. Michael Van Sloun