Advent brings with it gifts of the season. It invites us to think about time and waiting, the contrasts between light and dark, and to hope for a better world to come. The Church invites us to “be” advent which means “coming”. If we believe that Christ is risen and lives among us, then we are challenged to bring that light of Christ into our own darkened world by our words and actions; not in the gift giving of Christmas, but in our every day interactions with those we live with, work with, play with and meet in the market place. It is the light of Christ shining forth in the darkness of our own days that give us hope for a better world until He comes again in glory. The Christian community lives in the “interim” between two historical events; the coming of Christ in the flesh and his coming in glory at the end of time. we are challenged to prepare the way of the Lord.