In preparation for the Messiah’s coming, let us “make straight his paths” as Isaias the prophet bids us. That is to say, let us go to God with an upright intention and seek Him alone with the sole desire of pleasing Him.
(Mother Mary Salomé Thoughts 623. 3)
The season of Advent is a time of expectation, when we prepare our home and our hearts to celebrate the birth of Jesus on Christmas Day. The word Advent is derived from the Latin word adventus, which means “coming”.
Advent is a season of hope, a time to nurture peace and experience joy in anticipation for the love that is made incarnate with the birth of Jesus.
This year, Advent begins on Sunday, November 30, 2025. Each Sunday of the season traditionally spotlights a key theme, hope, peace, joy, and love, to invite reflection, prayer, and expectant celebration. The traditional colour for Advent is violet.
Hope
As a season of reflection and contemplation, Advent invites us to imagine a kind of hope, rooted in the unchanging nature of God and his promise to restore every part of his creation. Advent hope does not minimize pain or difficulty, nor does it assume things will soon get better. Instead, it faces the darkness with courage and chooses to trust that God’s promises will come to pass, guaranteed by his long, proven, faithful character.
Such hope empowers people to persevere, to act justly, and to serve others as a sign of the restoration that will arrive through Jesus.
Peace
The kind of peace envisioned during Advent comes through the way of Jesus. He brings true peace by honestly addressing and working to heal the deeper sources of division, such as fear and pride, that compel people to violence. Jesus reconciles all things to himself, offering healing and restoration through love and forgiveness.
As Jesus continues his work of bringing real, lasting peace throughout the Earth, we can participate in that work by living as peacemakers. We join with Jesus by embracing his non-violent way of forgiveness, caring for our neighbors, and extending generous love toward all people.
Joy
Advent joy is not about general happiness stemming from good times. It’s a deep sense of safety and freedom people feel because of God’s loving character, which remains constant through all circumstances, and because God can be trusted to ultimately bless and heal creation as he promised.
This kind of joy is about being united with the God who walks with us and trusting that he will one day wipe away every tear. It looks to the future but also takes root in our present reality. The season of Advent invites us to experience joy not because everything is perfect but because God is with us and his joy is already breaking into the world.
Love
The Bible invites us to see a kind of love that’s neither accidental nor driven by desire for self-fulfillment. Instead, it involves a steady commitment to care for the well-being of others, never self-seeking, always self-giving, even when it costs us.
The Advent season invites us to live into that His coming world right now, by loving others the way Jesus does. As we give of ourselves in order to care for all, we demonstrate the love that Jesus shows to all people.
It is by the practice of straightforwardness, simplicity, humility and gentleness that we must prepare for Jesus’ coming if we want Him to enter willingly into our hearts.
(Mother Mary Salomé Thoughts 624. 2)
