We have now begun the new liturgical year. This new year of prayer and the readings of Mass will be our daily and weekly companion throughout the Year of Faith.

Of course we have begun with the Season of Advent. The purple color, so present in church, the theme of waiting, both aids to increase our longing not only to relive once more the birth of Jesus, but as well our desire for his coming again in power and glory.

Even as we spend the dark days of the end of the calendar year looking toward the dawn, the coming of Christ, we must look to our own hearts as well. This is a time of preparation, of repentance to await our meeting with Jesus. And that meeting will take place!

In particular, this is a time for us to avail ourselves of the sacrament of reconciliation. We should seek the purity of our hearts and souls for Christmas by receiving the very forgiveness of sins that is at the heart of Christ’s ministry.

Don’t let Advent go by without a good confession!

As we think about our purity of heart, we should be drawn to another of the great themes of Advent and Christmas. It is that of she who is the purest of heart among us … Mary the Mother of Jesus.

Think of all of the famous depictions in art, in poetry and in song of Mary, either conversing with the Angel Gabriel or looking adoringly on her newborn son.

Mary is not just an actress, a profound player in the drama of Christ’s incarnation and entrance into the flesh of this world. She is also the one who shows us how we are to love Jesus fully and follow him closely in everything that we do. We must try to see ourselves in Mary, and see Mary in our every thought, word, act and prayer.

The coming week, we honor Mary twice. On Saturday, we celebrate Mary under the title of the Immaculate Conception. That, by the way, is the patronal Feast Day for us as Catholics in the United States.

The solemnity reminds us that Mary is the new Eve. Mary, unlike the rest of us, was born without the stain of original sin contracted by Adam and Eve. Her closeness to Christ and her purity to be his mother were assured by the great gift of the freedom from original sin applied to her in advance of Jesus’ death on the cross so that she was like our first parents before the fall. Mary always preserved her sinlessness.

Four days later, on Dec. 12, we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

That feast recalls that Mary appeared to the poor man, blessed Juan Diego, in 1531, as he was on his way to Mass to pray for his seriously ill uncle. As a result of that meeting, the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was imprinted on the famous tilma that you can still see at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Even more impressive is the fact that Mary, under that image, was at the heart of thousands of conversions of the Mexican people. La Virgen de Guadalupe remains at the heart of the people of Mexico today and was called by Blessed Pope John Paul II, the Mother of the Americas.

The sacrament of confession, renewed love for Mary and the anticipation of celebrating the birth of Christ. Sounds like a great antidote to the pressure of shopping and materialism that has come to surround Christmas in our day. What a great Advent preparation!