First week of Advent
Happy Advent to those of you that celebrate!
This Advent, I am focused more on diving into Scripture and drawing closer to Jesus to prepare for His coming. I choose to make time in my days for reading, reflection, an Advent Study with a small group, and prayer in my personal spiritual journey. Plus, I plan to attend Mass each weekend in order to receive Christ in the Eucharist and to learn from the priest’s homilies and reflections, something that I might not be seeing or understanding myself.
Why do I share all of this here? Partially for accountability. And partially with the hope that it might inspire someone reading this to ponder what Advent really means and how this season can be an invitation to slow down and turn inwards in their own life.
Each Sunday in Advent, we light a candle within an Advent wreath. The 4 candles represent hope, peace, joy, and love. The first of the four candles symbolizes hope: hope in the heavenly kingdom.
Jesus seeks to come into our lives during Advent.
This is a season of preparation.
We are invited to prepare our hearts for the birth of Christ; the birth of Christ within us.
Jesus comes to remind us to pause in our busy lives. He comes to inspire us to pray. He wants to invite us to read His Word and to know Him.
One of my favorite Bible quotes and a verse that has supported me many times throughout my teenage and young adult years is Jeremiah 29:11, which states “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you; plans for hope and a future.”
This provides hope, faith, and assurance that God’s plan is far greater than our current circumstance. He knows His plan for us. He has shown us over time, through others’ stories in the Bible, through others’ experiences close to us, and through our own lives that He is trustworthy. He always comes through on His promises. Jesus promised to be with us always (Matthew 28:20). We can place our hope and trust in Him.
Why do we light candles during Advent?
Each candle reminds us of the promise of newness and eternal life. This is on offer because of the birth of Jesus at Christmas. Through His birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension, we are given the invitation into the kingdom of heaven. As we prepare our hearts during Advent, we mark the passing of time by lighting a new candle each Sunday as we wait for Christmas to arrive.
Jesus is the light of the world. Jesus is the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14).
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” - John 1:1-5
He shines His light in the darkness. Jesus brings us from the darkness into the light.
Light cannot be hidden in the darkness. The symbol of light in Scripture reveals the power of God. Taking it back to the beginning of creation, God said, “Let there be light; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness” (Genesis 1:3-4).
As we walk through this first week of Advent, allow this imagery of light to be a reminder of hope. Wherever you are in your life and in the world, we can all lean into hope…confidence and hope in knowing that what we believe will happen has already happened.
I’ll leave you with this quote from Romans that hits on most of the themes for our Advent season from chapter 15, verse 13: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”
May God bless you this Advent season and always.
Love you!
xo,
Megan C
