Advent Notes
- Advent is the season where Catholics prepare to celebrate Christmas and the birth of
Jesus.
- Advent begins 4 Sundays before Christmas.
- The season of Advent begins the new liturgical (Church) year for Catholics.
- The main colors used during Advent are purple and pink.
- The virtue of hope is strongly emphasized during Advent, since we are looking forward
to an important celebration.
- As part of the tradition, many Catholics celebrate Advent with
Wreaths or Calendars.
- Advent means the "coming," or waiting for the arrival of Jesus believed to be the
Savior.
4 Important Themes of Advent
1) Waiting
-Patiently waiting to celebrate the coming of the Savior Jesus Christ and the
Incarnation.
-John the Baptist is a very important figure recognized during Advent as he is the one
who "prepared the way of the Lord," and got people ready for the arrival of Jesus.
2) Repentance
-Catholics look to grow closer to God by seeking forgiveness for sins and changing to
become better people.
3) Rejoicing (Gaudete Sunday)
-Celebrating that God is always with us and provides for us.
4) Dealing with Doubt
-Just as Mary and Joseph faced many challenges, all people face obstacles when trying
to be committed to God.
Notes from the Advent talk from Father Michael Himes
- Advent is a season about waiting and expectation. It's about waiting to celebrate the
birth of Jesus (Christmas).
- Advent is also about having hope in dark times and knowing that in the end God is
always with us.
- As human beings we live in time. Because we live in time we are imperfect and are
always incomplete. We have this deep desire at the core of our being to be ultimately
satisfied.
- The only thing that can fully complete us and satisfy us is God.
- Because God doesn't live in time and is eternal (timeless), the question becomes how
can God communicate with us human beings who live in time when we can't understand
or relate to him?
- God's ultimate communication and gift to us is through the Incarnation, becoming a
human being to show us how much he loves us. The salvation he gives us through
Jesus' death and Resurrection is what completes us and satisfies our "hearts (ultimate
desire)." God "breaks the rules" of time in order to give us what we want which is
salvation.
- In order to know God and appreciate him in our lives we have not experience what is
not him. For example, in order to know happiness we need to experience what it means
to be the opposite like sad or angry.