Reflection on the season of Advent - HOPE - PEACE - JOY - LOVE

The four candles that we light on the Advent wreath have traditionally represented the themes of hope, peace, joy, and love.  We mark the days and the weeks until the coming of the Lord as we light the candles on the Advent wreath.   

In many ways, can work to help restore hope in our world.  There are many who feel hopeless who are in need of our prayers.  During the Advent season, may the hope of Christ penetrate our hearts and the hearts of those who have lost hope. 

We see a world where is not a lot of peace.  Many in our society prefer to attack and tear down rather than reconcile and build up.  It is hard work for us to forgive someone who has wronged us.  Sometimes, we are in a broken relationship and we don’t even remember the true source of that brokenness.  Sometimes our hearts are so troubled that we don’t think that peace is a possibility.  We pray for peace in our world during this Advent season, for an end to the violence that is afflicting our communities and the division that is tearing apart our world.

We are called to rejoice this Advent season. The joy of our faith is not like the happiness we experience in a particular moment, such as the happiness a child feels when he is opening up a present on Christmas morning.  The joy of our faith is not to be deterred by the particular circumstances of our life, no matter how bad those circumstances may be.  The joy of our faith comes from God alone as a precious gift to us.  

"For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).  God does not just represent love: God is love.  The three persons of the Trinity and the relationship of those three person model the love that we are have for one another.  If you want to know how to love one another, we are to look at the love that sent Jesus to earth to live a life of love and to pay the price for all of our sins.

I wish you hope, peace, joy, and love this Advent season.  Blessings to all of you this week.  Father Lincoln