Advent / Christmas 2009
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The four weeks preceding Christmas are designated as Advent, a time to prepare the way of the Lord for His coming as our King and Savior. Advent is an especially lovely season which begins the new liturgical year. The First Sunday of Advent is therefore the Church's "New Year's Day". Advent begins the Christmas cycle.
Advent comes from the Latin word for an "arrival" or a "coming". Advent means that the Lord is coming. Jesus comes to us in different ways:
He came to us at a specific point in history at Bethlehem about 2000 years ago;
He comes again in the Church's great feast of Christmas;
The Lord will come to judge the living and the dead in the Second Coming; and
The Redeemer comes to us in the presence and action of the Holy Spirit in our daily lives.
God speaks to us in our consciences, he comes to us in the Eucharist and in the Word of God proclaimed. He arrives in the person of the beggar, the needy, the suffering, the oppressed. We must be ready to receive and welcome Him when He comes.
Things You can do this Advent
Read about Advent and get into the spirit of the season. Click on the Think-Do-Pray button above to reflect on the gifts that God gives us over the season. Join the parish as it prays together. Click on the Masses etc button to find out when we are gathering. Children love stories? Why not slow down and share the stories of the Jesse Tree in our Children section?
