First Sunday of Advent

Dear Friends,

Advent has begun! What a mysterious and beautiful season of the year; a season of hope and of anticipation.

I’m sure in the last several weeks we’ve all experienced the great hurry that our general culture is in to celebrate Christmas. Like clockwork, as soon as Halloween is over, stores and advertisements and local decorations seem to transform overnight into Christmas, with barely a moment to pause for Thanksgiving, let alone for this special season of Advent. I am a bit guilty myself—just this week, my husband and I did a “deep clean” of our house so that we could start putting up our many Christmas decorations. But as we were cleaning—clearing out clutter, washing the windows, dusting every corner—I found myself pondering Advent. Advent is a time where we “prepare the way of the Lord,” and where we look into the cluttered and dusty corners of our own hearts and ask if we are truly ready for his coming.

Before Jesus’ birth on Christmas, the whole word was waiting in darkness, hoping that their day of salvation would come. Advent invites us into that darkness. But it is not a darkness of fear and despair—rather, illumined by the flickering candles of the Advent wreath, it is a darkness of expectation and hope that the Light of the World is on His way.

During this season, we do not only prepare our hearts for Christmas, but for the day that we will meet Our Lord face to face in eternity. The Gospel tells us, “at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” Because of this, as Saint Paul tells us in the first reading, we must “awake from sleep!” Whether we are asleep in complacency, self absorption, materialism, addiction, perfectionism, or discouragement, Advent is a time where we can strive to wake up and to re-ground ourselves in the truth of who we are: sons and daughters loved by God, whose number one most important goal is to be with him in Heaven.

This Advent, let’s ask ourselves: how is Jesus calling me to wake up? What tidying and de-cluttering do I need to do in my own heart to prepare for his coming? Maybe during these coming weeks we can put down our phones and carve out more time for silence. Maybe, as we clean and decorate our houses, we can make time for Confession and prayer. Maybe, as we think about the Christmas gifts we want to give and receive, we can find ways to give of ourselves to the poor or the lonely. Let us enter into this time of hopeful waiting with our whole heart, so that we can greet Our Lord with joy when he comes.

Jule Heffernan

Director of Communications