Advent Reflections

"I ask you all to prepare for Advent with spiritual fervor, drawing from the word of God and the Eucharist interior energy for welcoming the Lord who comes."

" Advent is a special time to train ourselves in vigilance as preparation for our Christmas encounter with Christ, who has shown himself to be king and lord in the glory of heaven."

"Advent is concerned with that very connection between memory and hope which is so necessary to man. Advent’s intention is to awaken the most profound and basic emotional memory within us, namely, the memory of the God who became a child. This is a healing memory; it brings hope. The purpose of the Church’s year is continually to rehearse her great history of memories, to awaken the heart’s memory so that it can discern the star of hope.…"

"It is the beautiful task of Advent to awaken in all of us memories of goodness and thus to open doors of hope."

~ Pope Benedict XVI

"Advent is a time of fervent hope. But it also proposes to us, above all in the first weeks, the need to avoid succumbing to the torpor of mediocrity and lukewarmness. "Take heed, watch and pray," says Jesus in today's Gospel, "for you do not know when the time will come" (Mark 13:33). That time is the moment when the Lord will ask of us an account of our life, of how we have used the gifts we have received. Are we conscious that God expects us to love and serve others no matter what situation we are in? "

~ Bishop Javier Echevarría

"Though our society has made it (Advent) a season of indulgence, it is meant to be a season of training. It’s time to blow on the spark of spiritual desire within us till it bursts into flame. Christmas lights are nice, but it is we who are supposed to be the light of the world."

~ Dr. Marcellino D'Ambrosio
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