Daily Readings
The links below will take you to the readings for each day of Advent, as published on the Web site of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops:
December 2007
Penance services
Each years, parishes around central and southern Indiana host penance services in their own churches or in neighboring churches.
The services are a chance for the parish community to come together for prayer and also for individual confession.
See a list of the services happening in our archdiocese this Advent
Reflections from the archbishop
Read the past two Advent columns which Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein has published in our weekly newspaper, The Criterion:
2007
2006
2005
Special Christmas covers through the years
Each year, as the season of Advent culminates in the celebration of Christmas (and the Christmas season), The Criterion has a special commemorative front page, which is usually taken from famous artwork. Click on the links below to view some of our recent covers (1998-Present)..
Links
What is Advent?
Each year, the four Sundays leading up to Christmas mark not only the beginning of the Church's liturgical year but also a solemn preparation for the joy of Christ's birth. From the Catechism of the Catholic Church on the preparation for Christmas:
The coming of God's Son to earth is an event of such immensity that God willed to prepare for it over centuries. He makes everything converge on Christ: all the rituals and sacrifices, figures and symbols of the "First Covenant". He announces him through the mouths of the prophets who succeeded one another in Israel. Moreover, he awakens in the hearts of the pagans a dim expectation of this coming.
St. John the Baptist is the Lord's immediate precursor or forerunner, sent to prepare his way. "Prophet of the Most High", John surpasses all the prophets, of whom he is the last. He inaugurates the Gospel, already from his mother's womb welcomes the coming of Christ, and rejoices in being "the friend of the bridegroom", whom he points out as "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world". Going before Jesus "in the spirit and power of Elijah", John bears witness to Christ in his preaching, by his Baptism of conversion, and through his martyrdom.
When the Church celebrates the liturgy of Advent each year, she makes present this ancient expectancy of the Messiah, for by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior's first coming, the faithful renew their ardent desire for his second coming. By celebrating the precursor's birth and martyrdom, the Church unites herself to his desire: "He must increase, but I must decrease." (522-24)
