The Christian liturgical year begins on the first Sunday of Advent, falls on November 28th this year. Advent 1 falls the Sunday after Thanksgiving (it is always the Sunday closest to November 30th). The word “advent” means “coming” in Latin and on these four Sundays before Christmas, we focus on the coming of Jesus. Advent is a season of preparation. We are preparing not only Christmas pageants, but our hearts to be ready for the arrival of Jesus as a baby in the manger in Bethlehem. The biblical readings for Advent focus on the prophecy concerning the birth of the Messiah, and on the events that lead up to his birth. But Advent has another component that we often miss when focused on the sweet baby Jesus in his mother’s arms. Advent readings also invite us to look to the coming of Jesus t at the end of time The seasonal color for Advent is BLUE. BLUE is both the color of Kings and the color of expectation in the Christian Church – and we use BLUE as a reminder that we are preparing and waiting for the coming of Jesus as the lights breaks in the dawn.
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