First Sunday of Advent

Happy New Year! We begin a new liturgical year with the first Sunday of Advent this week with an apocalyptic vision from the Gospel of Luke. But here Jesus is not telling us to worry about predicting the future or trying to discern when the end of the world will come. Rather, Jesus' word is a word of hope to encourage faithfulness in the present moment - even in the midst of calamity. Jesus makes clear to stay alert because in these difficult days God draws ever nearer to us (and often in imperceptible ways) offering us love and grace.