First Sunday of Advent

Advent Alarm Clocks

A new liturgical year! New beginnings! We have the invitation to enter into parish life and the building up of our St. Francis community and our world in so many diverse ways. Advent is a time of active participation in preparing our hearts, our homes, and our minds. It is a time to let light shine brightly in the midst of darkness. It is a time of waiting in joyful hope—waiting not in a passive sense, but in actively working to create hope and promise. It is a time to stay awake and pay attention to what we are experiencing. It is time for all of us to be John the Baptist or one of the prophets and let our voices “cry out in the deserts” of silence about what we know is not Gospel living.

Pope Francis in an address to Atheneum Students in 2013 challenges us:

Please do not watch life go by from the balcony! Mingle where the challenges are calling you to help carry life and development forward, in the struggle over human dignity, in the fight against poverty, in the battle for values and in the many battles we encounter each day.

Where in my life am I just watching life go by? Am I responding to and acting for change in the reality of gun violence? Hate crimes? Spreading of lies that damage the reputations of others? Do I use my voice to advocate and work for the dignity of all persons? What are the “swords” and “spears” that need to be made into “plowshares” in my life?

How is God coming to us this Advent? What will it take for us to wake up and use our voices?