MANILA, Philippines – This Yuletide Season, shop, party, and go to confession.
Today marks the start of the Advent season, the four weeks leading up to the celebration of the birth of Christ. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) urges the faithful to take this opportunity to go to confession.
“The season of Advent is a time of waiting and preparation for the coming of Jesus at Christmas and, more meaningfully, his birth in our hearts, in our lives,” said CBCP Media Office director Monsignor Pedro Quitorio III.
“Advent is also a call for penance and renewal. Especially during the first two Sundays of advent, Catholics are invited to perform penitential acts such as receiving the sacrament of confession,” he added.
Quitorio also invites Catholics to appreciate the liturgy this season.
“The Church liturgy this season is treasured with so many beautiful signs and celebrations. But the beauty of these celebrations becomes very meaningful only when they are manifested and witnessed in the lives of those celebrating them. Otherwise, they remain mere religious rituals bereft of Christian significance,” he said.
A familiar custom marking the start of the Advent season is the putting up of Advent wreaths made from evergreen leaves which symbolizes the wait for Christ.
The wreath holds four equally spaced candles, three of which are purple ones lit on penitential Sundays and a pink one lit on Gaudete Sunday, the joyful third Sunday of Advent.