A Community of Caring
“And the angel answered her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy-- the Son of God.’” -- Luke 1:35
As a community, each parish works to prepare the way of the Lord’s coming in the weeks leading up to Christmas; or Advent. The period of four weeks preceding Christmas can be seen as a time of anticipation, waiting, preparation through prayer and sacrifice, promise, and most importantly, a time of reflection. In order to strive towards our salvation, we must live in a constant Advent where we are continuously preparing for parousia, or, the second coming of Christ.
The Importance of Advent
Advent gives us a vision of our lives as Catholics and shows us the possibilities of life. The vision of life that Advent gives us is twofold; it looks back to the first coming of Christ at Bethlehem, and it looks to the future when Christ will come again. In the interval between these two events, we can find meaning for our life as a Catholic. The season of Advent brings us the magnificent vision of life and hope for the future given to us by Christ.
What is Advent?
The word 'Advent' is from the Latin 'Adventus,' which means 'coming.' Advent is the beginning of a new liturgical year and encompasses the time from the fourth Sunday before Christmas, until the Nativity of Our Lord is celebrated. The first Sunday of Advent is the Sunday closest to the feast of St. Andrew the Apostle (which is November 30th), and so it will always fall somewhere between November 27th at the earliest and December 3rd at the latest. The liturgical color for this season is purple.
Like Lent, Advent is a preparatory season. It has significance because it is a season of looking forward and waiting for something greater; both for the annual celebration of the event of Christ's birth, and for the time when Christ will come again.
As noted in the New Catholic Encyclopedia, during Advent, the faithful are asked:
· to prepare themselves worthily to celebrate the anniversary of the Lord's coming into the world as the incarnate God of love,
· thus to make their souls fitting abodes for the Redeemer coming in Holy Communion and through grace, and
· thereby to make themselves ready for His final coming as judge, at death and at the end of the world.
“And the angel answered her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy-- the Son of God.’” -- Luke 1:35
As a community, each parish works to prepare the way of the Lord’s coming in the weeks leading up to Christmas; or Advent. The period of four weeks preceding Christmas can be seen as a time of anticipation, waiting, preparation through prayer and sacrifice, promise, and most importantly, a time of reflection. In order to strive towards our salvation, we must live in a constant Advent where we are continuously preparing for parousia, or, the second coming of Christ.
The Importance of Advent
Advent gives us a vision of our lives as Catholics and shows us the possibilities of life. The vision of life that Advent gives us is twofold; it looks back to the first coming of Christ at Bethlehem, and it looks to the future when Christ will come again. In the interval between these two events, we can find meaning for our life as a Catholic. The season of Advent brings us the magnificent vision of life and hope for the future given to us by Christ.
What is Advent?
The word 'Advent' is from the Latin 'Adventus,' which means 'coming.' Advent is the beginning of a new liturgical year and encompasses the time from the fourth Sunday before Christmas, until the Nativity of Our Lord is celebrated. The first Sunday of Advent is the Sunday closest to the feast of St. Andrew the Apostle (which is November 30th), and so it will always fall somewhere between November 27th at the earliest and December 3rd at the latest. The liturgical color for this season is purple.
Like Lent, Advent is a preparatory season. It has significance because it is a season of looking forward and waiting for something greater; both for the annual celebration of the event of Christ's birth, and for the time when Christ will come again.
As noted in the New Catholic Encyclopedia, during Advent, the faithful are asked:
· to prepare themselves worthily to celebrate the anniversary of the Lord's coming into the world as the incarnate God of love,
· thus to make their souls fitting abodes for the Redeemer coming in Holy Communion and through grace, and
· thereby to make themselves ready for His final coming as judge, at death and at the end of the world.