Honolulu, Hawaii, Dec 5, 2007 / 08:22 am
Sometimes people get so wrapped up in preparation for Christmas each December that they forget about the four weeks of Advent.
Jayne Mondoy, the director of the Diocese of Honolulu’s Office of Religious Education, says that Advent “gives us time to reflect on how we participate in the ‘yes,’ to bring Christ to the world now, today.”
She said that there are three messages of joy to be found in the Advent season. God’s promise of salvation 1) has been fulfilled in Jesus Christ’s birth; 2) will be fully realized in the second coming of Christ, or parousia; and 3) is now, with God’s ultimate gift of Jesus Christ in our lives.
“So while we celebrate this understanding throughout the year, Advent is a wonderful time to really focus on how we live this Paschal Mystery each moment of our lives,” Mondoy said.