Reflection for First Week of Advent–A time to prepare

Advent is here. What a marvelous time in which to renew your desire, your nostalgia, your real
longing for Christ to come – for him to come every day to your soul in the Eucharist. The Church
encourages us: ecce veniet – he is about to arrive”.
“We do not preach only one coming of Christ but a second one as well, much more glorious than
the first. The first coming was marked by patience; the second will bring the crown of a divine
kingdom.” (St. Cyril of Jerusalem)
The Church asks us to understand that Christ, who came once in the flesh, is prepared to come
again. When we remove all obstacles to his presence he will come, at any hour and moment, to
dwell spiritually in our hearts, bringing with him the riches of his grace.
Advent is synonymous with hope, not the vain waiting for a ‘faceless god’ but concrete and certain
trust in the return of him who has already visited us. Advent is a journey toward Bethlehem. May
we let ourselves be drawn by the light of God made man.
“Advent”, this powerful liturgical season that we are beginning, invites us to pause in silence to
understand a presence. It is an invitation to understand that the individual events of the day are
hints that God is giving us, signs of the attention he has for each one of us.