ADVENT, A TIME OF RENEWAL, A TIME FOR CHANGE
It is once more the New liturgical Year of the Church, let it be for us a new year of our lives too, one more year, one more opportunity for a renewal and for a change for the better.
The season of Advent as always, is an invitation to look in two directions. Looking at all that’s happened in the past year and asking for forgiveness for all that went wrong in our lives and remembering the things to thank God for.
We also look forward with hope to a new beginning and thank God for the opportunity to begin anew on the path of discipleship with Christ.
Advent is a time for a level of heightened awareness, it’s a time to see ourselves as God sees us. Isaiah calls us to confess our sins and hope for better days. In the Gospel of today, Mark warns us against complacency, to be alert and to look at the positive side of life. To consider the new day that is dawning in our lives and the new opportunities that God gives us for renewal and for Change.
Advent would be a good time to take the message for renewal and a change of heart keenly, and to open our hearts and invite the Lord to come more fully into our lives and in our families.
We pray with fervor as we begin this Advent season: “Come, Lord Jesus, Visit this vine and protect it, the vine your right hand has chosen.” We pray with great hope and trust in the Lord remembering the fact that the Lord never abandons His people.
In the gospel of today Jesus asks us to be alert, “Be on your guard, stay awake”. He wants us to have a clear purpose in life, to mature in our relationship with him and with others, to give some time to prayer, and to live our lives with his message in our hearts. That’s what the season of Advent is all about.
This Advent let us retract our steps once more and prepare a way in our lives for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one who will give us a meaning and a depth to all our encounters with him and with our neighbour.
This Advent let us call on the Lord to heal us both physically and spiritually, let us also pray for the good circle of friends we have around us, as we pray for ourselves and for our near and dear ones, let us thank God for the food that we receive at the Eucharistic table, the food that nourishes us constantly and cures us both Physically and Spiritually.
Fr George Carlos Sdb.
