For the church, the new year doesn’t start in January, but at the end of November with the Advent season. As we begin a new liturgical year, we switch our focus from the Gospel of Luke to the Gospel of Matthew (though we jump back to Luke for the Christmas story). Throughout Advent we prepare our hearts and our lives for the coming of Christ, the light of the world. The color for advent is blue and each week we sing the eternal hope of the church, “O Come, O Come, Immanuel!” and light our advent candles. We light one more candle each week, the growing brightness symbolizing the coming of Christ’s light into our darkness.