On Sunday we celebrated the first Sunday of Advent and began the Church’s New Year!
There are four Sundays in Advent and During these first weeks of the Liturgical Year we prepare for our celebration of the coming of Jesus into our world at Christmas.
Sometimes we can get carried away with putting up our Christmas Tree and Christmas decorations, buying Christmas gifts, organising and going to Christmas parties – it can all get a bit chaotic!
Amidst all the preparations we can forget that Advent is about a time of waiting, of expectation of preparing. The Advent wreath, with its four candles, three purple and one pink, is a reminder that we are marking the weeks and remembering the thousands of years that the people of the Old Testament awaited the coming of the Messiah.
Advent is a time of hope, and a time of looking at our lives and trying to find ways to become better people. We remember the past, but also try to allow Jesus into our lives in the present while we remember that Jesus promised us that he will come again so we await, and prepare for, his second coming.
As we light our first candle on our Advent wreath we pray that we may always be aware of the presence of God in our lives and that we will use the gifts that God has given each of us to bring light and love into the lives of others.