The Season of Advent

The Church’s new year begins this Sunday with the season of Advent. Some people mistakenly think that Advent and Christmas are two ways of referring to the same season, an understandable assumption to make with all the Christmas decorations and parties we find in the month of December. But Advent is its own season, a penitential one that gives us the opportunity to slow down and prepare ourselves for the upcoming feast that is Christmas. 

 How are you going to slow down and prepare yourself during one of the busiest months of the year? Some families gather every morning to light the candles of their Advent Wreath and to say a prayer. Others find a few hours on a Saturday morning for solitude and silence. All of our services throughout Advent will also be penitential in nature to help us enter into the season of Advent more fully, including Morning Prayer and Noonday Eucharists on Wednesdays. Some people will find creative ways to fast from food or digital devices. And still others will make an appointment with one of our priests to receive the Rite of Reconciliation (confession). What about you?

 Whatever you do, be intentional. Have a plan. Anything you do to slow down the pace of your life will help you long for the coming of the Lord, priming your heart to receive him once again.