Happy New Year! Or maybe it would be better to say: Happy New Church Year! The liturgical church year begins with the season of Advent, which this year begins on December 1. The season of Advent is about anticipating and preparing for the coming of Christ, the light of the world. Each of the four weeks of Advent, we will light another candle on the Advent Wreath. The growing brightness symbolizes the coming of Christ’s light into our darkness. Advent comes to an end on Christmas Eve, leading us into the joyful season of Christmas.