Introduction

Our liturgical year begins on the first Sunday of Advent with the Gospel of Luke, our gospel for Year C. Luke writes for a missionary-challenged faith community in a multi-cultural and diverse Greco-Roman world nearly 2,000 years ago, making his message just as real and relevant today.

In this season of Advent, we prepare and travel with Mary and Joseph towards Bethlehem and to all that is about to unfold. In this journey we are encouraged to be alert and sensitive to the many different ways God comes among us. It is a time of miracles, of witnessing the unexpected and the power of grace in our lives.

The birth of this child has both theological and ecological significance. Luke’s story celebrates God’s unconditional embrace of all beings of our planet, revealed in Jesus’ birth. This is seen in the truth and mystery sung by the angels to the shepherds and in the repeated sign, of Jesus ‘wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger’. This cloth was used to show the shepherds where to find Jesus. It was the same type of cloth that lambs were wrapped in to protect them from being marked, especially for the Passover where a spotless lamb was required for the sacrificial offering. Therefore, Jesus’ presence in a humble manger, itself a product of the earth and surrounded with animals, highlights Jesus as a child of the earth as much as of the spirit. A child that becomes the Lamb of God. The ecological implications of this reality provide us with a wonderful opportunity to reflect on Jesus’ birth in both cosmic as well as spiritual terms.

Structure
The season of Advent is observed in the four weeks leading up to Christmas day. It is a time of anticipation, preparation, and deepening faith. As we prepare to celebrate Christ’s coming at Christmas, Advent invites us to look forward to His eventual return.

Each Sunday of Advent centres on a theme: Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love.

This resource is structured around the Sunday themes that are aligned with the Scripture readings of the liturgical calendar.

Each reflection includes Scripture references, a reflection, suggested prayers and action steps to enrich the Advent season.

Elliot Vanstone and Fleur Dorrell