12.16.2024 | Third Monday in Advent

It's wet and unseasonably warm here in the Carondelet Garden on this Third Monday in Advent.  The rains will be moving on in a few hours and the clouds will give way to a few rays of sun by this afternoon, hopefully!  Low 60s for a high on this mid-December day.

The cold weather at the beginning of the month has pretty much taken care of all of the Hostas for this year.  They will lay dormant and return triumphantly in the Spring.  Now we wait.  That's really what Advent is all about really... waiting.  When I was a little kid, it was waiting for the excitement of Santa coming and what would I get this year.  Today, it is still waiting but waiting for something more.  

This past Sunday was Gaudate Sunday.  Gaudate means "Rejoice!"  We've been waiting in the darkness but the end is coming.  The light will return.  If you have an Advent candle this week is the Rose candle.  A symbol of hope in a time of waiting.  The waiting will soon come to an end as the light of the world will soon arrive.  

The light will also begin to change by the end of the week and the beginning of the Winter solstice.  The shortest day of the year will give way to the slow return of light and the promise of Spring.  We wait in Hope with Faith that the light will come! I admit I am ready for the changeover and the lengthening of the daylight.  

Rejoice is sometimes hard for some of us this time of year.  Loss, sadness, weariness, and depression can sap our faith and leave us feeling a bit hopeless.  Reach out to someone who may be alone right now.  A text, an email, or better yet a handwritten note of encouragement.  Maybe even an old-fashioned phone call.  We can be the hope someone needs right now.  A little hope, a bit of faith and as much love as we have.  That's all the news from the Carondelet Garden.