During the Advent Season Fr Terry and I have concluded the Sunday Mass with the Solemn Blessing for Advent. It is a rich prayer that begins this way: “May the almighty and merciful God, by whose grace you have placed your faith in the First Coming of his Only Begotten Son and yearn for his coming again, sanctify you by the radiance of Christ’s Advent and enrich you with his blessing.” Grace is the gift by which God, who is Love, has made himself known to us through the fulness of the biblical witness and 2000 Year Christian Tradition. As we choose to believe in the first coming of Jesus, we in turn look forward to his coming again as we radiate His Presence in the world. What does such radiance look like?

The next part of the Blessings gives an answer: “As you run the race of this present life, may he make you firm in faith, joyful in hope and active in charity.” We are running a race, a metaphor St. Paul refers to in 1 Corinthians 9:25-26: “Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one. So, I do not run aimlessly”. There is a goal to this life, a prize beyond earthly imagining that inspires us to live with purpose.