Advent: Season of Hope
What is Advent?
Advent (from the Latin: “to come to” or “arrival”) marks the beginning of the Church’s liturgical year. Comprising the four Sundays before Christmas, it is a season of hope and preparation, where we open our hearts to God’s presence. We prepare to celebrate the anniversary of the historic coming of Christ in the Incarnation (Christmas), and our hope in Christ’s second coming at the end of time. It is a season of longing and waiting – we allow ourselves to be expectant in this time, alert and ready for God’s presence. We meet in the scriptures of Advent our spiritual ancestors who practiced such waiting: the prophet Isaiah, John the Baptist, Mary the Mother of Jesus, and more. They teach us how to wait with joyful hope, while Christ in our Gospels teaches us to be awake and ready for the Second Coming.
The Advent Wreath is a symbol which helps us mark the weeks of Advent, and focus our prayer. The light of the candles reminds us of Christ, the Light of the World. You can prepare an advent wreath at home to pray with.
“In this holy season of Advent, the Church waits not only for the birth of the Child Jesus in Bethlehem but for the rebirth of the human heart today - a true jubilee of grace, where hope becomes joy and waiting becomes mission. ”
Additional resources for advent:
As we enter a new Liturgical Year, we move to read the Gospel according to Matthew in our lectionary this upcoming year. A special Advent practice could be reading Matthew’s Gospel as a way to grow closer to Christ this Advent.
Journey Through Advent
The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops presents Journey through Advent with the Most Rev. Wayne Lobsinger, Auxilliary Bishop of Hamilton. Join to reflect on the Scriptures for the Sundays of Advent 2025.
