Saddened by an act of desecration to their church, Carlos Valladares and wife, Rosie, kept watch over St. Margaret of Scotland Church in Morristown, in the early morning hours of Nov. 23, after it was left shattered by acts of vandalism by a middle-aged resident of Morristown. Morristown police quickly apprehended the suspect near the scene of the crime and charged him with destroying the glass on six of the church’s main doors and damaging a large stained-glass mural above them, leaving the building vulnerable until the doors were boarded up in the early dawn.

Throughout this year of pandemic, restrictions imposed by state officials varied, except for houses of worship that were deemed “non-essential,” severely limiting the right to worship. That all changed the night before Thanksgiving when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that New York’s state restrictions during the pandemic are in violation of the First Amendment’s protection of free religious exercise.

The Season of Advent has been described as a Season of Hope, Peace, Joy and Love (or Faith). You can find a few different explanations of the “Advent Wreath” and its meaning, as well as the meaning of each of the four candles. Most agree that the “first” candle symbolizes Hope. As Advent of 2020 unfolds, we might ask ourselves, “How hopeful am I?” or “Am I feeling very hopeful these days”? Are we ready to do what St. Peter tells us we always should be ready to do? Can we give a “reason for our hope”?