Faith

Perhaps it’s the compressed calendar, or the external decor that grabs our attention with "Celebrate the season!" Or, maybe it’s the emphasis on reunions -- bringing loved ones dear to us near to us for joy-filled sharing.

As we journey through Advent each year we encounter a threefold sense of Christ’s coming: in history, in mystery and in majesty.

What do you think the John the Baptist of real time 2,000 years ago looked like and sounded like? I’m talking about the fascinating desert preacher who makes a fresh appearance in Christian communities during the Advent season leading to Christmas.

St. Luke places an extremely high value on the Eucharist, and it is a major point of emphasis woven into the fabric of his Gospel from beginning to end. He artfully inserts a curious detail into his birth account to begin to state his case: Mary “gave birth to her firstborn son … and laid him in a manger” (Lk 2:7). The manger is mentioned twice more in verses 12 and 16.

According to Forbes Magazine, American holiday spending exceeded $1 trillion in 2016, and it dropped to a little more than $700 billion in 2017. As we are now just a few days away from Christmas in 2018, no doubt Americans have started to rack up an impressive amount of spending again this year.

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

What I love about the Advent season is that it captures the mixed reality of our lives. Our moments of joy and sorrow are often closely woven together.

Advent is a season of expectation, of waiting for promises to be fulfilled -- God’s promises, to our Israelite ancestors in the faith and to us. Isaiah promises the birth of a child named Emmanuel, "God with us."