Next Sunday (December 2nd) we will begin the holy season of Advent and light the first candle on our Advent Wreath, we invite everyone to pause and reflect on the meaning of the Christian tradition which symbolizes the passage of the four weeks of Advent in the liturgical calendar of our Roman Catholic Church.
 
     The WREATH is a circular construction of evergreen branches with four candles and, more often than not, a fifth (white) candle, which symbolizes Christ, in the center. On this, the first Sunday of Advent, we light the first violet candle symbolizing the beginning of our Advent journey with the prayerful contemplation that the “Light of Christ” is already beginning to glow as we begin to anticipate the celebration of His birth on Christmas morning.
 
     The circle of the wreath symbolizes the love of God which has no beginning and no end. The EVERGREENS and lighted candles signify the persistence of life in the midst of winter.  The colors of the candles are VIOLET and ROSE, corresponding to the colors of the liturgical vestments for the Sundays of Advent.  VIOLET is the historic liturgical color of penitential seasons. ROSE is the color for the Third Sunday of Advent also known as Gaudete Sunday from the Latin word meaning “to rejoice.” The ROSE colored vestments and candle are used as a pause to the penitential spirit of Advent as the Church experiences the excitement of coming closer to the celebrating the great feast of the Nativity or Birth of Emmanuel who is “God with us.”  The WHITE or “Christ” candle is placed in the center of the wreath to symbolize Christmas. White is the traditional festal color in the Latin Church. The white candle is lit on Christmas Eve or Christmas day.
 
     The Advent Wreath is simple to make and allows a family to come together to construct something which can provide both educational as well as spiritual meaning for all in the family.  Children can take turns lighting the candles (and blowing them out). The Advent Wreath is also inexpensive to purchase. The presence of an Advent Wreath in our homes is a wonderful way for all of us to re-direct our attention away from the commercialism of the “Christmas shopping season” and, instead, help us to focus on the spiritual nature of these next four weeks which represent a new and wonderful opportunity to use the gift of life we have been given as fully as possible and in accordance with God’s will.  It is also a sober reminder that our lives do not have an inexhaustible supply of these days - or candles.
 
     Whether we live to fifty, or a hundred years, we all need to push ourselves to live each day as though it could be our last. We need to be prepared to make that last and final leap into eternity, from the darkness of the grave into the arms of He who is “Light from Light, true God from true God.”