Advent 2021

Dear Friends,

It seems Christmas decorations went up soon after Halloween across many stores here in Austin, but before we get ahead of ourselves, the Church invites us to enter into the mysteries of Advent.

It is no accident that Christmas occurs right after the winter solstice during which daylight reaches its annual minimum. As the days get shorter and the calendar year draws to a close, we are more acutely aware of our own spaces of metaphorical darkness – our losses, our regrets, our unaccomplished hopes – and we long more deeply for God’s light to shine in our lives to illuminate our way. Christmas is our annual celebration that Christ our Light has come into the world in the humblest and most trying of circumstances. The message of Christmas has brought people great hope for centuries, and gift-giving and communal feasts reflect the joyous nature of Christ’s birth.

But we also know that the story of our own salvation has yet to be completed. Injustice and sorrow continue here on earth as we hope and patiently await the second coming of Christ when all will be made well. Advent invites us to grow in our longing for Christ’s second coming. We consider how Christ has called us to prepare, hope, change, and believe. We also learn the lessons from the Scriptures about the events leading up to the first coming of Christ by his birth in Bethlehem. Who was most receptive to the new and unexpected works of God? Who was not and struggled to believe? 

I invite you to consider some of our parish activities and programs, listed at Advent 2021, as we journey 
together through this season of mysteries. 

God Bless,