Advent is here! A new liturgical year has begun, and I am always so grateful to start a new year in the life of the Church with this season of waiting and reflection. It is significant that the Church in her wisdom, gives us the Advent season to prepare us for the Christmas season…and for the rest of the Church year. We don’t start with celebration; we start with waiting. Why?
That time of year is about to be upon us — the stretch between Halloween and New Year’s that contains a lot of busyness in our society. Right in the middle of this busy time the liturgical Church year comes to an end, and the season of Advent begins a new one. It’s a season with a lot of holidays and feast days, and sometimes (more often than we may want to admit) we come to the end of it exhausted and full of regrets about being so busy and rushed and not having had the time to reflect and prepare ourselves for the Christmas season (which extends at least 3 weeks past Christmas day!).
How can things be different this year? How do we walk through this time of year and these Church seasons with restful and joyful hearts? I have a few thoughts. Continue reading