Advent: Pilgrims Wanted
By Fr. John Roderick, F.S.C.B.
December, 2025
The liturgical season of Advent is a great gift . The Church invites us every year to make a pilgrimage towards the Mystery of Christmas. Advent comes from a Latin word that can be translated as presence or arrival. The early Christians adopted this term to refer to the special coming of God into the world in the birth of Jesus and again at the end of time, in what we call the Parousia. In the northern hemisphere, we begin our Advent pilgrimage during the coldest and darkest time of the year. We are thus reminded that the whole world stands in darkness and that all of humanity needs God’s light, a light that enters the world as a small baby. The Advent candles we kindle each week during our pilgrimage through these dark nights of wintertime are a consolation and a reminder of the victory of “the Light of the World” that appeared in the darkness of the holy night of Bethlehem.
The time of the Advent pilgrimage is marked in two different ways. We are perhaps more familiar with the first, which is embodied in the traditional Advent wreath. It’s four candles that mark the four Sundays of our Advent pilgrimage. Each Sunday represents a virtue we can pray for: Hope (week 1), Love (2), Joy (3), and Peace (4). We may be less familiar with the other way of celebrating Advent. The Church asks us to focus our attention on the different comings of Jesus as our pilgrimage to Christmas progresses. During the first part of Advent (from the first Sunday until December 16), the Church invites us to meditate on the second coming of Christ at the end of time, while during the latter part of Advent (from December 17 to 24), we are invited to contemplate the first coming of Jesus as a child in Bethlehem.
The Church invites us to become pilgrims on a journey towards Christmas. Will you consider making this pilgrimage together? Here is a brief pilgrim’s guide, so to speak, to help you prepare for this pilgrimage.
Week 1: Climbing the Holy Mountain. The Advent liturgy begins with the firm invitation to get up, to be awake, and to rise from our sleep (Rm 13, 11). Oftentimes, we find ourselves spiritually asleep, disoriented, or distracted by the many trials, sins, and difficulties of daily life. The liturgy invites us to make a conscious decision to begin the spiritual pilgrimage of Advent. The prophet Isaiah echoes St. Paul’s invitation, saying: “Come, let us climb the Lord’s Mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob.” The Advent pilgrimage is described as climbing a mountain, and our destination is the house of the Lord. During this first week, we have our Advent wreaths blessed, and we light the first candle, the candle of hope. The Psalmist encourages us to “Go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.” Through the liturgy, we discover that the great prophet Isaiah is our pilgrim companion. He will accompany us with many prophecies of the coming Messiah.
Week 2: John the Baptist. During the second Sunday of Advent, we are given the gift of another companion on the journey: John the Baptist. We learn that John the Baptist was living in the silence of the desert and inviting everyone who came to him to “repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.” His presence suggests that to complete our pilgrimage, we need to recognize our need for silence. During this season, we are bombarded with the noise of the modern, commercialized way of celebrating Christmas and the pressures that come with it. Silence does not mean only a lack of noise, but above all, the recognition of the true desire and prayer of our heart. We need to enter God’s silence in order to discover the subtle ways he chooses to speak to our hearts. John invites us to change and to convert, to leave behind the heavy baggage of sin, and to make space for God, which is a path of light and beauty. We are invited to light the second candle, the candle of Love, and allow this light to “prepare the way of the Lord.”
Week 3: The joyful companionship of those who were healed miraculously. During the third week of Advent, we are invited to rejoice, for we are slowly arriving at our destination: “Rejoice in the Lord always. Indeed, the Lord is near.” Our friend, the prophet Isaiah, reminds us that the sorrow and mourning of our pilgrimage will soon come to an end, and we will be filled with joy and gladness. The liturgy reminds us how Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah that “the eyes of the blind will be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared, the lame will leap like stags and the tongue of the mute will sing.” During these tough days of pilgrimage, we are invited to surrender our trials, difficulties, and sins over to Jesus trusting that He has come to heal our deepest needs. We are invited to light the third candle of our Advent wreath, the candle of Joy. The certainty of our near arrival fills us with Joy.
Week 4: Jesus’ parents—the Blessed Virgin Mary and St Joseph. During the final stretch of our pilgrimage, we begin the octave (8 days) of more intense prayer and meditation. We light the fourth and final candle of Peace. The Church puts on our path the parents of Jesus as companions on the pilgrimage. Together, they were the first and greatest pilgrims to have completed the journey towards welcoming Jesus. They both embody and teach us what it means to be on pilgrimage towards this great mystery. The Angel will visit Joseph and reveal to him God’s plan, telling him not to be afraid. The virgin birth announced by the Angel to Joseph turns our hearts to contemplate the mysterious ways in which God intervenes in history, and the other miraculous births of Samson and John the Baptist. Mary and Joseph remind us that God is always taking the initiative in our lives in ways that will surprise us. They ask us to always trust that God has a plan for us, even in times of darkness and uncertainty. When we can see the stable off in the distance, they invite us to always make space for God in the stable of our hearts.
When we finally arrive at the stable in Bethlehem, our pilgrim companions, Isaiah, John the Baptist, Mary, and Joseph, will leave us at the door. We are alone before the Mystery. We can hear a baby crying inside. We smell the animals. There is a great light beckoning us to come inside. Mary is now inside with her husband Joseph, and the newborn baby Jesus is wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. Isaiah’s prophecy about the Virgin giving birth to Emanuel is fulfilled. The Word of God has become flesh and dwells among us. At the end of our pilgrimage, we stand in awe before the fact that Jesus also wants to be born in our hearts, to dwell in our families and our friendships. Our pilgrimage, hard as it was and distracted as we sometimes were, has helped prepare us to welcome this most precious gift.
Will you consider joining us on this pilgrimage? All are welcome! The only requirement is an open heart.
