Well – here we go. “It’s the most wonderful time of the year!” The radio stations have been playing holiday music since Labor Day (it seems), the stores put out their gift suggestions back in the middle of summer (it seems) and my neighbors are mad at me for not having any lights up on the house yet (it seems). And it’s not even December 1 yet. We have begun Advent. Did you know that the word “advent” comes from the Latin word adventus and means “arrival” or “coming.”? Our time of preparation is to get our hearts ready anew to celebrate the Incarnation. Jesus Christ has already come in the flesh. He has already been crucified. He has already been resurrected. And He is alive in our world today. But is His message alive? This is undoubtedly the hardest time of the year to be a Catholic. The world wants to celebrate Christmas starting now and up until the 25th of December – but no longer. Of course, what the world wants to celebrate is music, gifts, cookies and Charlie Brown television shows. The birth of Jesus? Not so much. So I, as faith-filled Catholics, need to do a better job at being the voice of hope in what might otherwise be a world devoid of hope. Jesus is not “coming”. Jesus is alive and present in the lives of those who choose to mirror the teachings of the Gospel. If you’ve been reading the headlines (and how could you not), it is clear that, for many, the message of hope that Jesus brought into the world has been lost. Many people are struggling to understand where God is in a world of violence and hate. This Advent, I have a unique opportunity to be a genuine beacon of Jesus’ hope in this world. It’s easy to drop down to despair and anger, I get it. I fall into that trap a lot. But I plan to use these next few weeks to really work on being positive and hopeful to as many people as I can. And when I hear them sharing hopeless thoughts, I intend to find a way to offer hopeFULL responses. I will undoubtedly get some strange looks. But if I am a baptized Catholic (and I am) and I believe that Jesus is Lord of the Universe (and I do) and if I believe that God can overcome every storm that I may face (and I do) then I am compelled to share that message of hope. I may be the only one who is convinced, but that alone is a good reason to do it. Every Day