Rediscovering Advent

As we start the first week of Advent, we not only look forward to celebrating the birth of Jesus, but also look forward to His return to bring us home. Unfortunately, the celebration of Advent has been turned into the celebration of Christmas and the celebration of Christmas is over after December 25th. This Advent, let’s try to embrace the themes of faith, hope, joy, and peace.

Faith is our foundation. Without faith, we will not be able to grow in our relationship with Christ and we will easily fall when we are tempted or times get tough. Times will most definitely get tough at some point in our life and especially as the end times approach. Hardships and persecutions are easier to bear knowing Jesus is out there and that He loves us. Kids sleep better knowing that their parents are watching over them. They have faith that their parents have their best interest at heart.

Hope is a very important virtue to have when times are tough. We already know the ending of the story of life and that good triumphs over evil. No matter how bad things get, know that everlasting joy awaits us if we follow Jesus and His teachings. Many times, people say, “What’s the use?” or “Why should I keep going?” We keep going because we have hope that if we persevere through the hard times, we will one day make it to Heaven.

There are so many people who are depressed and sad because they lack meaning and joy in their life. They put earthly things at the top of their priority list and the joy from those things doesn’t fully satisfy us. If we have a priority to attain a certain thing in life and we don’t get it, then disappointment and sadness could set in. We need our top priority to be making it to our Father in Heaven and we will not only find joy through our journey in doing the works of God, but also eternal joy in Heaven.

Finally, be at peace. We have so many questions and life has such uncertainty. Why did this have to happen? Why does it work this way? When is this going to happen? Are we there yet? Don’t stress over life or be anxious. Just relax and be at peace. The Angel Gabriel basically threw a grenade at Mary when she was asked to give birth to Jesus. There must have been a thousand worries and questions going through Mary’s mind, but she remained at peace.

So we have four weeks in Advent and four virtues to work on. I can almost guarantee that none of us will be able to master any of these virtues. However, if we can say that we are even a little more faithful, hopeful, joyful, and peaceful, this will be a great Christmas and we will be on our way to finding our way to Jesus.