November can feel like a very “American” month. Election Day (4—not as big a deal as last year) is followed by Veterans Day (11), Thanksgiving (27), and Native American Heritage Day (28).

Advent is our annual season for longing and waiting. Sometimes the thing the parish staff most longs for is the end of the holydays and all that extra work!

The demise of the analog clock has probably affected the learning curve a little. But flashing digital displays still don’t offer to children or other fine people the precise meaning of time that goes along with merely knowing the numbers.

Research tells us that more people suffer from light deprivation during winter months than we realize. Soon the sun will be at its lowest point in the sky. Dawn will come later and darkness will occur earlier.

Our house was broken into recently while my family and I slept soundly in our beds. We woke when we heard noise on the back porch, but it was too late.

My brothers and sisters, to prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries, let us call to mind our sins.

When we consider that Christ is the true light, having nothing in common with deceit, we learn that our own life also must shine with the rays of that true light.

Browse our library for additional First Sunday of Advent, Cycle A material.