On this first Monday of Advent, we turn to the Lord seeking His mercy and sanctification. Friends, our entire life, with its ups and downs, with all the sacrifices we need to make and with all the hardships we endure, is simply a school of purification and sanctification. In today’s readings, this is what the Lord comes to do: to purify, to purge. It is His initiative. And Advent, therefore, is not so much about what we do, but about what the Lord is doing.