Understanding Advent
As we are finishing the second week of Advent, we are getting closer to the coming of Jesus as an infant. I would like to share a little about what we believe as Catholics about Advent.
Each week represents waiting, preparing, and being alert. We are preparing for hope, peace, joy, and love. We are preparing our hearts and our homes. There are two colors that are important in this season. Violet represents royalty and repentance. Rose for the third week symbolizes abundant joy as we are getting closer to the full joy of Christmas. This is a time for us to grow in spiritual wholeness. At times, this is difficult due to all the commercial things that happen during this time.
I would like to close with a quote from Pope Francis that totally sums up Advent to me, “Advent invites us to a commitment to vigilance, looking beyond ourselves, expanding our mind and heart in order to open ourselves up to the needs of people, of brothers and sisters, and to the desire for a new world.”