Our theme for this year’s 2024 season of Advent is From the Manger.
Hunger is a universal human experience, drawing attention to our most basic needs for food and nourishment and our more complex needs—peace, liberation, and meaning in this life. So, it’s no wonder the story of Jesus—the one who came to feed the hungry—begins, ends, and centers around food.
From the Manger gathers around the birth story in Luke 2, embracing the playful symbolism of a newborn Jesus being laid down to sleep in a feeding trough in a town called “House of Bread”. Beginning Advent with the birth of Jesus may feel a bit unconventional, but we hope this liturgical dissonance will invite you to reflect on the life-sustaining hope, peace, joy, and love Jesus brings and notice how the baby born in a bread town continues to feed a hungry world today.
