Advent Season: Preparing Your Heart

For some, Advent is a season of preparation and waiting that might include practices of fasting.

Advent is the first season of the church year in which we focus on the arrival of Christ. It is a season of preparation and waiting as we look to Christ’s first arrival in the manger and look forward to his promised second coming.

Since it is a season of preparation and waiting, we are encouraged to do so in our everyday lives. For some, this may mean refraining from decorating the Christmas tree, from eating sweet treats, or from other forms of fasting. It might mean increasing your almsgiving to the poor and needy, as well as your devotional practices, for these four weeks.

At Saint Thomas Church, we enact some of these practices in our worship and have a unique opportunity to pray and give to those in need. As is the case for most liturgical practices, your participation is prayerfully decided through individual and communal discernment.

Some books you may consider reading are Silence by Shūaku Endō, Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan, Advent: The Season of Hope by Tish Harrison Warren, and Advent: The Once and Future Coming of Jesus Christ by Fleming Rutledge.

If you would like to meet to discuss how you can participate in Advent or to schedule a confession during this penitential season, please schedule an appointment.