Advent is the season of hope, a time of eager anticipation or longing for Christ. During this blessed season, we have a chance to connect with our deepest desires. Above all else, whether we recognize it, we human beings long to be united with God, the source and summit of our aspirations, the joy of our desiring.
This longing, which we try to hide or suppress most of the year with no great success, bubbles to the surface in Advent. The hymns, prayers and readings evoke our heart's deepest desires like no other time of year.