We are in the second week of Advent and as we continue to journey closer to the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, I sit here wondering how many of us know what Advent truly is and why it is celebrated.
To begin, the word Advent comes from two Latin words; ‘Ad’ and ‘Venire.’ Ad means ‘to’ and Venire means ‘come,’ therefore, Advent means ‘to come.’ But what exactly is to come? Or maybe the better question is: who is to come? The obvious answer is, of course, Jesus!

Therefore, Advent is a time of preparation as we wait for the coming of Christ, his Advent!
When we hear the word ‘waiting,’ we often imagine someone sitting idly around, but that is not true waiting. Think of it this way: when we are waiting to go on a vacation we don’t just sit around waiting for the time to pass, we pack and plan. And when we are waiting for someone to come to our house for dinner we don’t just watch the minutes tick by, we cook and clean. We do this because when we are about to experience greatness we wait not passively, but actively, by preparing for what is to come.
So this Advent season I encourage you to prepare for the coming of Christ by cleaning out your soul with the grace of Confession so that you can be ready to receive the gift of His very self.
So get up and go get that soul cleansed!
— Fr. Kyle A. Manno