Deacon Tom Anthony



 

THE SEASON OF ADVENT AND WHAT IT SHOULD MEAN TO YOU

 

Today, the Church began a new liturgical year. With this, we now enter the Season of Advent. Advent is a time of preparation and reflection. We are challenged to examine ourselves and ask ourselves if we are truly ready for the coming of Our Savior Jesus Christ. We are encouraged to read scripture and to pray quietly to ourselves.

 There is a great silence associate with this season. A Wonderful Silence. I close my eyes and imagine darkness. I am outside. Snow blankets the ground and the cold is penetrating everything that I wear. There is no place to go. All the houses within sight are dark and unwelcoming. How many people find themselves in this position? Alone and lost in the world today they wander through their lives with a hopelessness that is unimaginable. Where is their comfort? Where is their joy? Where was their Thanksgiving? The world can be a large, cruel place when someone finds themselves alone.

 

In the distance there is a bright shining light. It is a welcoming light coming from the top of a hill. From it comes warmth that melts the soul. It draws many towards it with its loving power, calling those hiding in the darkness to come to it; to abandon all their worldly cares and to be held in a loving embrace. There is complete and utter joy.This is the Church. This is Our Faith. This is what we believe and profess. To many, the Church is that which keeps them going in their lives. To others, it is their family. And still to others, it is their home.

 The Season of Advent has begun. We cannot look towards Christmas with expectation and anticipation when what we have before us is thirty days of a season that has been created just for that: a time to explore our relationship with Christ and how He influences us every day. It is season to prepare ourselves for His eventual Second Coming when He will be with us again in all His Glory and Triumph. And with this season comes acts of charity and love which define our faith. Through all this preparation and all these acts, our relationship with our Savior is transformed. As with any relationship, when you work on it, it develops and gets better. Ask yourself: “How is my relationship with Christ? How can I make it better? What more can I do for Christ?”