TODAY is the first Sunday of Advent. Advent is the name of the liturgical season during which the Church teaches and encourages us to prepare our hearts, souls and bodies for the birth of our Lord Jesus, the Prince of Peace, our savior, through whom we too become children of God, attain true personal peace and joy--not mere animal happiness.
Most liberal Catholics, which means the majority of those who form 90 percent of the Filipino population, don’t bother with the proper observance of the liturgical seasons—except perhaps Lent. They don’t really care what Advent is, when it begins and ends. Advent begins, as today, on the Sunday nearest November 30, which is the feast of St. Andrew, the Apostle, the brother of St. Peter. And it ends exactly on Christmas Eve, December 24, before the Christmas Midnight Mass, which is the first to celebrate the Nativity, begins. That Advent ends at this point shows how important it is.
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