What Is Advent and Why Is It Important?

Advent is the season of reflective preparation for the Nativity of Christ at Christmas and the expected return of Christ in the Second Coming.

The season of Advent lasts four Sundays leading up to Christmas. Each year, Advent will begin on the Sunday between November 27th and December 3rd. Advent 2023 will begin on Sunday, December 3rd, and end on Saturday, December 24th. 

While Advent is certainly a time of celebration and anticipation of Christ’s birth, it is more than that. It is only in the shadow of Advent that the miracle of Christmas can be fully understood and appreciated, and it is only in the light of Christmas that the Christian life makes any sense. 

Today the Advent celebration for Christians is a celebration of both the fulfilled promise of Christ’s first coming and the yet-to-be-fulfilled promise of his second coming. The promise for Israel and the church is Jesus Christ; The Lord has come to earth and will arrive again. This is the essence of Advent.

Excerpted from Christianity.com, read more at What is Advent? A Guide for the 2023 Holiday Season