Loretto Shares Advent’s Hopeful Message of God’s Bright Promise
Posted on December 2, 2024, by Loretto Community
There will be signs in the sun, the moon and the stars … when these things take place, stand up and raise your heads, your redemption is drawing near.
Luke 21, from the Gospel for the First Sunday of Advent
Advent is a Christian experience of both paradox and faith. We know Jesus has come to us as Savior, teacher and healer already, and so we celebrate. And because we believe in the mystery of the Second Coming we know we wait for Jesus to come again in glory. We must not be stuck in one moment of past history; we must be ready to live through the darkness of waiting to the bright promise of how God had turned the world upside down in sending Jesus to us. What a paradox of thought!
This Advent may be different for many people, filled with their own paradox of questions and faith search: a personal illness, disappointment at an election, the continuation of conflict in the Middle East, war in Ukraine, family and friends who are ill, children who are starving, and the list goes on. But because we are believers, we can read the words of John 1:5 with faith: “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it.” We will always have the light of Christ as our guide. That is the mystery of Advent and the gift of our faith. Light the first candle as a sign of openness to the light that waits for you.
One of the Advent O Antiphons prayers first used in the early Church and still used today reads, “O Radiant Dawn, Splendor of Eternal Light, Sun of Justice: Come and shine on those who live in darkness.”
Follow along with us on Loretto’s Facebook page this first week of Advent as we join in prayer with those for the eradication of AIDs (World AIDs Day, Dec 1), give gratitude for the abolition of slavery throughout the world (International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, Dec. 2) remember with love all persons with disabilities (International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Dec. 3); and remember all those who gave their lives to protect us at Pearl Harbor (National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, Dec. 7).
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