A new liturgical year begins today (Sunday, December 3rd).  The start of a new church year also marks the beginning of a new cycle of scripture readings proclaimed at Sunday Mass. For the next fifty-two weeks, the gospel reading will rely heavily on the Gospel of Saint Mark, with occasional passages from Saint John's Gospel. Of note: Mark's gospel is probably the oldest of the four and was addressed to the Christian community in Rome. It is likely that Mark served as the Apostle Peter's secretary and scribe.

The word Advent is derived from the Latin word meaning "coming" or "arrival". This brief season of four weeks prior to Christmas invites us to ponder the "coming" of Christ from three perspectives: 1- Christ's historical coming as a human being through his birth in Bethlehem; 2- Christ's final coming at the end of time to bring to completion the work of salvation; 3- Christ's coming to us through grace-filled moments of our lives, especially in the Sacraments. In every instance, there is a "dawning" of light into darkness.

The Advent Season brings specific ritual practices to our worship: The liturgical color is purple or violet, evoking the color of the sky before dawn. On Sundays, the Gloria is omitted in anticipation of our singing it at Christmas. The Advent Wreath with its weekly progression of increasing light bespeaks the light of Christ's doming dispersing the darkness of our world.

The Advent Season runs "countercultural" to American culture. With the hyper-commercialization of Christmas, it is already the Christman season. The focus here is more on shopping and parties before Christmas Day actually arrives. Advent is different and the church calendar follows a different rhythm. Advent invites us to slow down our pace and remain awake and alert to how Christ is calling us to overcome the gloom that too often shrouds our world and allow the light of Christ to transform our hearts and our relationships.