| What's New | Advent |
As we look forward to a warm holiday season in cold winter months, we see many signs of the end of the year. There is the end of the growing seasons as farm lands lay barren; the snow has yet to clothe the naked fields. The end of the Gregorian calendar is pending as we look forward to a Thanksgiving of the harvest and the giving of Christmas. We are easily distracted with a plethora of activity; parties are pending and shopping becomes a part-time job. What some don’t realize within the Catholic Church is that the Church calendar is about to begin again. After the feasting and football during the last Thursday of November, the Catholic Church looks forward to the beginning of its new year. The first Sunday of Advent is the beginning of the new liturgical year.
We should be setting our sights, already, on a new year within the church. The first thing that comes to mind for most is the resolutions that are made – and often broken. As in Lent, there is a need for introspection. We lose perspective in the time we spend “getting stuff” for others. If we have the introspection necessary – what the purpose of our celebration is in this new beginning – the depth of the meaning of Christmas and ensuing festivities would become more closely linked and recognized as events centered on giving.
We are given this opportunity to do something for others and have a focus on something bigger than ourselves. With all that goes on during this season especially, there are remedies for the “stress”. The precise relief is the reason for the season – Jesus.
When a new baby comes into our lives, parents especially know that our whole focus becomes external and giving. The child is vulnerable and completely dependent and has the capacity to make us joyful. When my father’s first grandchild came along, this staunch disciplinarian I’d always known was on his hands and knees playing as I have never seen – a grown man animated and cooing.
It is my hope for you that you are able to find the same joy as the season ensues.
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