Advent Time

This is a beautiful time of the year, especially as we are preparing ourselves to celebrate the Nativity of the Lord. We know that our Lord has come once and we look for him to come again. What makes Advent a special time? I think this quote from Blessed John Paul II, "Advent is a time of vigilance, prayer and conversion." That truly says it all because that is what we are to be doing during this holy time. However, our time of vigilance, prayer and conversion is not confined to Advent but needs to be every day of our lives. Conversion, as I learned in my Foundational Theology course in the seminary, is a life-long process. It can be said that vigilance and prayer is the same. God gives us each day to live our lives and our faith. Many times we take those gifts for granted. We have the hope each day that we will rise from sleep, but we don't know, so we are thankful each time that we can wake up. We are thankful that God has given us another day to live the gift of faith and to share His love with one another. Don't think that I don't have to do this because someone else will. No, we are responsible for our lives and our faith and we need to do what we can to grow in both. We don't know how long our life-long process will be, but we do know this, today is the day to make all things new and right because we don't know what tomorrow will bring. Thank God for the time that we have been given, especially Advent, and do your part to make vigilance, prayer and conversion an important part of your daily life and spirituality! God Bless You!!!