At Christmas we celebrate the birth of Jesus; the miracle of God being born in human flesh and bringing hope to the Earth. Advent comes from the Latin word adventus which means “coming” and is the season leading up to Christmas when we are waiting for the coming of Jesus. But this is not just a celebration of the past but also a celebration of the present, as we experience the presence and power of Christ in our own lives now.

During the “Shine Like Stars” series which starts on Sunday November 28th, our whole community (adults, children and teenagers) will be looking at how we can bring God’s hope, love and light into the lives of other people and we hope this will lead to lots of conversations at home about Advent and the arrival of Jesus. Each Sunday during Advent we will be producing Advent Reflections: readings, questions and suggestions for action that are suitable for families, friends and groups to discuss at home together. One way of having these discussions is to combine them with the lighting of candles on an advent wreath.

An advent wreath is a circle of four candles that are lit consecutively on each of the four Sundays of Advent. The first candle is purple and represents Hope; the second candle also purple and represents Peace; the candle lit on the third week is pink and represents Love, while the fourth candle represents Joy. There is also a white candle in the middle representing Christ and this is not lit until Christmas Eve or Christmas Day

Making an advent wreath is very easy and is a great activity for children. Simply gather some winter greenery and make it into a circle laid on a flat surface (e.g. table) where it will not be disturbed. Place four candle holders in the wreath’s circle and one in the middle. Alternatively you could just simply place four candle holders in a circle and one in the middle with no greenery or you could even buy a formal advent wreath (e.g. check out www.catholiccompany.com).

Each Sunday we will supply a sheet of paper containing the Advent Reflections for that week. These can be collected from the Children's Information Desk in the church lobby. They are also attached to this message (see below)

You could set aside some time each Sunday of Advent or on a particular day during the week to go through the reflections together and light the candles. Maybe you could make a point of eating altogether as a family one day each week and do through the reflections before or after dinner.

This week, if you have children, why not help them make an advent wreath and then ask them to collect the reflections each Sunday. The reflections are written in such a way as to include children but they are not exclusive to families. You may want to gather with some friends or with your small group to light the advent candles and go through the reflections. Whoever we are, let’s look forward to increasing presence of Christ in our lives.