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Greetings to you! How are you? We have commenced a new liturgical season with its name from Latin which means “a coming, approach, arrival” (etymonline.com). Advent marks the beginning of a new liturgical year as we prepare to celebrate the first coming of Christ in Nazareth and Bethlehem and anticipate His approach and arrival at the end of time. Through Sacred Scripture and sacramental celebrations Jesus is present to us in the here and now, fulfilling His promise that He would not leave us on our own - “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20).
With the grace that comes from the Lord, we embark on a grand adventure that is personal and individual as well as communal and shared. As the harfoots (predecessors to hobbits) in The Rings of Power series said over and over, “Nobody goes off trail, and nobody walks alone!” A well-known Catholic Christian hymn called “Jerusalem, My Destiny” has a refrain that also harkens to this notion, “I have fixed my eyes on your hills, Jerusalem, my destiny! Though I cannot see the end for me, I cannot turn away. We have set our hearts for the way; this journey is our destiny. Let no one walk alone. The journey makes us one” (nativityindy.org).
As you pray with God’s Holy Word and receive Jesus within the Eucharist may the Lord bless you abundantly throughout this ADVENTure with mercy, peace, and strength!
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