Charity and Hospitality: Praying through Advent with St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

November 30, 2025 - First Sunday of Advent

"So things are shared in this life. The Hand that allots always proportions."

-St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

Advent comes upon us as a gift; the Lord, our Savior, is coming soon. He reaches out to us: “For from Zion shall go forth instruction, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Is 2:3). The Lord comes to us: He will come again at the end of time; He came to us in Bethlehem; He comes to us today in ways perceptible to faith (Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, d.1153, Advent Sermon 5, Liturgy of the Hours, Wednesday of the 1st Week of Advent), if only we have eyes to see and ears to hear (Mt 13:16-17). The Lord meets our longing as we cry, “Savior of the nations, come” (Saint Ambrose, d.397, Advent hymn), and more that fulfills it. This is nicely summed up in a liturgical prayer for Advent: 

May the splendor of your glory dawn in our hearts, 

we pray, almighty God, 

that all shadows of the night may be scattered 

and we may be shown to be children of light 

by the advent of your Only Begotten Son. 

Who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, 

God forever and ever (Roman Missal, Saturday of the 2nd Sunday of Advent, Collect). 

The Lord extends His saving hospitality to us; the radiant warmth of his light welcoming us home from the dark and cold of the pain of human life, especially the alienation of sin. This is what we joyfully anticipate in Advent, and Jesus assures us, “Your redemption is at hand” (Lk 21:28). 

This hopeful expectation stirs our desire to open ourselves to the Lord who has welcomed us, “to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus…” (1 Thess 3:13). We heed Jesus’ warning to “be vigilant at all times” (Lk 21:36) lest “the anxieties of daily life” and other temptations (Lk 21:34) cause us to fail to perceive the Lord’s advent. And then, our gratitude to the Lord for the gracious hospitality of his saving outreach reverberates through his Body the Church, expressing itself in charity, “to shine on those who sit in darkness and death’s shadow, to guide our feet into the path of peace” (Lk 1:79). 

Please join our Immaculate Conception Seminary community as we experience the Lord’s welcome in the daily Advent Scripture together with the University’s patron, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton. 

Grant your faithful, we pray, almighty God, the resolve to run forth to meet your Christ with righteous deeds at his coming, so that, gathered at his right hand, they may be worthy to possess the heavenly Kingdom. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. (Roman Missal)

Rev. Msgr. Gerard McCarren, Rector/Dean, and Associate Professor of Systematic Theology

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