The word Advent comes from the Latin word ‘adventus’, which means ‘to come’. Advent has two purposes: it is a time for Christians to prepare for Christmas and a time to focus our attention on the expectation of the Lord's second coming in the last days. The date on which Advent begins varies from year to year. It is divided into four weeks and generally begins between 27 November and 3 December. At the beginning of Advent, last week was the new year of the Church, and now we are entering the new liturgical year, the D year.

 Each of the four Sundays before Christmas has its own meaning, and four candles are lit each Sunday. The first week's candle was purple, representing hope, and the second Sunday is also purple, but again represents peace. It's called the Bethlehem candle because it reminds us of Mary and Joseph's journey to Bethlehem.In general, Advent is a time of joy and hope, not penitence like Lent, but Christmas requires a daily spiritual effort to bring strength and grace. In Sunday's Gospel, John the Baptist conveyed God's message when he said: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his path: we need to look at what needs to be improved in our lives; look also at the plains: what is lacking needs to be filled in; the hill: the bad qualities that need to be improved. It's time to return to God, to be more reconciled and to increase the faith we already have...