Welcome, Advent!

Welcome, Advent,
herald of the Good News,
threshold of hope, matured in a long wait.
You open our eyes of the spirit
towards the eternity,
Since in what is already accomplished
you are the promise of accomplishment.
Welcome, Advent,
herald of the Good News.

The joyful days of salvation
have dawned,
but we are still waiting for the kingdom that
will one day be fully realized;
came the one who was to come,
but still does not come at all.
He who came
is the one who comes by seas of hope.
The joyful days of salvation
have dawned.

As from the heart of winter
sprouts the spring,
so we enter tired and slow
in a new time,
transforming and renewing ourselves;
at the stroke of justice
humanity and world we will conform
to God’s design.
As from the heart of winter
sprouts the spring,

And so we live,
In permanent Advent
until the day in which the kingdom of God
will be fully realized.
What we expect and wish
has already come,
but it has to improve and everyone
shall have with its yeast.
And so we live
in permanent Advent.

(Bitoriano Gandiaga, Basque Franciscan poet)

Translated by Andrea González Tamayo