WEST MILFORD-Preparing for the Christmas season, a group of St. Joseph Church, West Milford, families came together on the first Sunday morning of Advent to share breakfast and create inspirational ornaments to decorate their homes and Christmas trees. The first Sunday of Advent is considered to be the church's "New Years Day", beginning the new liturgical year. The word Advent comes from the Latin word for "an arrival" or "a coming". In the church's teaching, Jesus "arrived" in human form in Bethlehem about 2,000 years ago but each Christmas, in a mystical way, He "arrives" again. While Advent is a time of joyful anticipation, it is also a time of penance, of preparing oneself to receive the gift of Jesus. Traditionally, the important feasts of the Catholic Church are preceded by times of penance, such as the period of Lent before Easter. During the seasons of Lent and Advent, the color purple, the liturgical color of penance, is used in church decor and little ornamentation is evident. This is soon replaced by the celebratory adornments of Christmas and Easter.