1st Sunday of Advent - Fr. Leo
As a Church, we have celebrated the fulfillment of Jesus’ promised resurrection. In death, we die with Christ and will rise in him to the fullness of God’s presence in the Kingdom of heaven.
As we begin the liturgical year today, on this first Sunday of Advent, we celebrate the coming of Jesus not only in history, but in every moment. This is why we can enter this season of quiet prayer and reflection to sharpen our awareness in silence of the awesome presence of God ever present.
For us, this is a season to grow in our awareness of God’s presence in our world, in our family and firstly, in our very inner being; our soul. The darkness of this season will help us be sensitive to the light of Christ who comes into the world. Just as silence helps us hear the voice of God within.
We are asked to embrace one thing in today’s gospel, so that this season may be holy and effective, and that is to be awake! This is to be sincere about our faith and its practice. Not letting ourselves be distracted by what in the end, does not matter.
A good practice may be to sit in the dark with a candle and simply ask God to be the light in our darkness that casts out sin and heals brokenness. To simply gaze upon the flickering flame and learn to see that same flame of love flickering without words in the silent solitude of our own hearts. God is there. We simply retire to sit and gaze upon him without distraction to feel the timeless love and presence of the One who has always been there.