Advent begins in the dark. That’s intentional. The Church starts this season when the days are shortest and the nights are longest, as if to say: this is what waiting feels like. This is what hope looks like before it has proof. Advent is a deliberate pause, a spiritual deep breath. A four-week invitation to live in expectation of something more that we can’t see.
The heart of Advent is simple: God is coming. Not was coming, but is coming. It’s about recognizing that Jesus keeps showing up: in the quiet nudge to forgive, in the courage to start again, in the ache we feel for something more, in the people we didn’t expect to need. Advent makes space for that kind of arrival.
But making space requires honesty. Advent lets us name what is unfinished in us: the fears we carry, the habits we regret, the guilt we can’t quite get over. We don’t do this to wallow in self-pity, we do it because the Savior doesn’t come only to decorate our lives. He comes to redeem them. And the places that feel most barren or complicated are exactly where he loves to be born.
So maybe the best Advent question isn’t “Are you ready for Christmas?” but “What are you waiting for God to do in you?” Say a prayer you’ve been avoiding, reach out to that person you’ve been ignoring, lend a hand to someone in need, go to Confession. Let the longing in your heart become a doorway instead of a dead end.
Advent whispers what the world forgets: we’re not stuck in the dark forever. The light is already on the way.
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