I feel like I wait all year for Christmas. It’s always been my favorite season. If I had to explain why I think I would say it just seems so filled with joy. Christmas parties, gift giving, good food, friends and family… all things that I love. It’s also filled with anticipation; each week lighting yet another candle at Mass until all four are finally lit and Christmas day is upon us. There is another kind of anticipation during Advent; the coming of Christ. When I read this week’s homily my immediate response was, “its Advent, I want to be joyful, not think about the end of the world”. After further reflection and reading, it makes a whole lot of sense. The readings at the beginning of Advent are about the second coming of Christ and the readings at the end of Advent are about his first coming, his birth in Bethlehem. What a better way to start our Advent season than to ponder Christ’s second coming and whether or not we would be prepared for it. Will we be ready to stand in front of our Lord and feel good about our lives and how we’ve lived them? What a better time to consider this? What a better time to make a change, even a small change to prepare ourselves for this inevitable day?
Advent means “coming”. Preparing for Jesus’s coming into our hearts and lives daily is what we can focus on this Advent and ultimately work toward being ready for Jesus’s second coming. One way I like to do this during Advent is to increase my prayer time. Dynamic Catholic’s “Best Advent Ever” is one simple and quick start to my day as I’m getting ready for work in the morning. An email is sent to you each morning with a two minute video that include some interesting stories and reflections. This brief prayer time in the morning starts me off on the right foot during what inevitably ends up being the busiest month of my year. Another idea is a daily rosary. Relevant radio app has a 16 minute rosary I say on my commute to work. Any habit takes 30 days to form, and in my opinion there is no better habit than the rosary.
Another way to prepare for Advent is to do something for someone in need. Part of the joy of the holidays is giving. There is nothing better than to see the look on your loved one’s face when they open that gift you know they really wanted or needed. The only thing that tops that for me is on Christmas morning, thinking of our family we adopt through my brother’s keeper each year. When we receive our list of family members and what their needs are for the holidays, naturally we shop for them and provide them with Christmas gifts. What’s more important is we pray for them each day leading up to Christmas and on Christmas morning. Holy Family has opportunities to help others each week, whether it be pulling a Christmas tag from the tree, adopting a family through MBK, or contributing to Christmas baskets with baked goods, etc.. Opportunities are easy to find.
My last suggestion for preparing for Advent is the easiest of all. Forgiveness. Is there someone you are holding a grudge against? Someone who’s hurt you and you can’t get over it? What relief you’ll feel once you decide to forgive and let go of hurt feelings, resentment or betrayal. For some, I know this seems the most difficult of all, but in the end you’ll realize the one harmed most by holding the grudge is you.
Christ’s first coming to us at Christmas as a baby in Bethlehem is upon us. We cannot control Christ’s second coming, but it will happen. What we can control is Christ’s daily coming into our lives and hearts through prayer and the sacraments. A wake up call is upon us and it’s time to prepare, will we be ready?
Reflection by Joanna Bishop
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