During Advent, a four-week season of preparation for Christmas, many Christian communities come together for study and reflection on the past, present, and future of the world God sent his Son to save. To that end, Love Must Act has published two resources that can be used by parishes, families, devotional groups, or individuals to accompany their spiritual preparations for living into thew new creation birthed by the Christmas miracle

The first is a devotional manual for each day of Advent called Waiting for Hope. Comprising a series of spiritual reflections from a diverse group of writers, we prepared it for Advent 2017, but it can easily be adapted for use in any year. It can be downloaded free of charge here.

The second, a short book by Bishop Stacy Sauls, The Women of Advent: Reflections on the Coming of Life and the Priority of the Poor, examines the lives of four women at the center of Advent: Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist; Anne, the mother of Mary; Mary, the Mother of Jesus; and Eve, the mother of all the living. Bishop Sauls explores how these women’s stories draw together God’s promises to the faithful through history, the coming life that will fulfill these promises, and the “in between” of the present world in which the new creation stands tantalizingly close at hand and yet still beyond our full grasp. At its core is God’s promise of a world in which “the lowly are lifted up, the hungry are filled with good things, and the rich are sent away empty.” The book can be ordered for a nominal fee from Amazon here.