Sunday brought in the Advent season and the beginning of the new liturgical year.

In conjunction with the first Sunday of Advent, Pope Francis called on Catholics to be aware of Christ’s coming at all times.

"Season of #Advent, let us be shaken out of our torpor to recognize God’s present in daily situations,” the pope tweeted this week. “If we are unaware of his coming today, we will also be unprepared when He arrives at the end of time. Let us remain vigilant!”

The readings on Sunday echoed the need to stay awake, ready and aware for the coming of the Lord.

Bishop Donald Hying of the Diocese of Madison discussed St. John the Baptist as a "wild prophetic voice in the wilderness" in the his "A Moment with the Bishop" video on the first Sunday of Advent. Hying reminded Catholics of the same message the prophet proclaimed: to repent and prepare the way of the Lord.

The word “Advent” comes from a Latin word meaning “coming,” a Crosswalk.com article said.

Although today Advent is typically thought of as a season of anticipating Christmas, it originated as a time when early Christians would prepare for the baptisms of new Christians on the Epiphany. The Advent season also anticipated the Magi visiting baby Jesus, Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River, and Jesus’ first miracle at the wedding in Cana. Christians used the Advent season as a period of fasting and prayer. Advent was not directly linked to Christ’s birth at Christmas until the Middle Ages.

The first Sunday of Advent celebrates hope, Crosswalk said. Catholics pray and reflect on hope in God’s plan for deliverance through Christ.

On the first Sunday of Advent, Catholics light the first purple candle on their Advent wreaths, a Daily Press article said. The candle is purple to symbolize preparation and repentance. The wreath symbolizes God’s eternal nature, as circles are without end. The pink candle, which is lit on the third Sunday of Advent, signifies that the waiting period for Christ's birth is almost over.

“Brothers and sisters: You know the time; it is the hour now for you to awake from sleep,” the second of the USCCB Daily Readings said, in which St. Paul writes to the Romans (Romans 13:11-14). “For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed; the night is advanced, the day is at hand. Let us then throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in promiscuity and lust, not in rivalry and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.”