Advent

Yesterday marked the first day of Advent.  I sincerely hope you do not bypass this important season to jump-start your Christmas celebrations.  There will be plenty of time for the joy of the Christmas season later, when it actually begins on Christmas Eve.  During this time of Advent, we prepare for the coming of the Christ; therefore, it is actually a vital penitential season.  We should be examining our hearts, making good confessions, removing anything from our lives that separates us from God or hinders our spiritual growth, and adding devotions to our lives that will prepare us for eternity.  When we think of a penitential season, most of our minds immediately go to Lent.  I once heard a great comparison between Lent and Advent:  Advent prepares us to live with Christ; Lent prepares us to die with Christ.  During the season of Advent, we await the coming of our King.  We prepare for Christmas, when God Himself comes into this world in human flesh–one of us, yet at the same time, fully God.  Please don’t skip over this season.  You wouldn’t have important guests come into your home from afar without preparing your home for them first.  Similarly, spend these 4 weeks of Advent preparing your heart to receive Christ Jesus.

This is a great time to meditate on Christ’s 2nd coming and the preparations we should be making for it.  I saw on the Fisheaters website that Jacob Michael, a Catholic apologist, wrote his reflections on the secularization of Christmas, which often begins the day after Thanksgiving and comes to an end on December 25.  He wrote:

…what Christians do (or should be doing!) during Advent and leading up to Christmas is a foreshadowing of what they will do during the days of their lives that lead up to the Second Coming; what non-Christians refuse to do during Advent, and put off until after Christmas, is precisely a foreshadowing of what they will experience at the Second Coming.

We Christians are to prepare for the Coming of Christ before He actually comes — and that coming is symbolized and recalled at Christmas. Non-Christians miss this season of preparation, and then scramble for six days after the 25th to make their resolutions. By then, however, it’s too late — Christmas has come and gone, Our Lord has already made His visitation to the earth, and He has found them unprepared. This is precisely what will take place at the Second Coming, when those who have put off for their entire lives the necessary preparations will suddenly be scrambling to put their affairs in order. Unfortunately, by then it will have been too late, and there will be no time for repentance. The Second Coming will be less forgiving than the Incarnation. There will be no four-week warning period before the Second Coming, like we get during Advent. There will be no six-day period of grace after the Second Coming during which to make resolutions and self-examination, like the secular world does from Dec. 26 until Jan. 1.

So, what do we do for Advent to prepare ourselves for Christ’s coming?  There are many ways to recognize Advent as a season separate from Christmas and to encourage spiritual growth.  I love the idea of making a Jesse tree with children.  This is a tree that displays the genealogy of Christ.  You can make the ornaments with your children (or for yourself if you don’t have children) as a craft.  This is a wonderful way to teach children Bible stories (or to remind yourself of important people from the Bible).  Essentially, you put up a small tree (or branches or a felt tree, etc.), and each day leading up to Christmas, you add an ornament representation of a person from Jesus’ lineage.  It culminates with the Christ Child at the top of the tree on Christmas Eve night.  With each ornament you place on the tree, you should read the Bible passage that tells that particular character’s story.  Here are just a few examples of how your tree might look:

from jenwa.blogspot.com

Advent calendars are another great way to recognize advent.  You can either buy one or make your own.  I also highly recommend using a pretty Advent Wreath with candles as the centerpiece at your dinner table in the weeks leading up to Christmas.  There should be 4 candles–3 purple and 1 pink.  You can buy them individually from just about anywhere, or Hobby Lobby sells Advent Candle Packs for just a couple of bucks.  You can easily find daily or weekly Advent readings to go along with each candle lighting.  The wreaths are beautiful AND they are an easy way to keep yourself focused during this chaotic and commercialized season.  They are a double win.  Again, you can either buy a wreath or make your own.  Finally, you can decorate for Christmas bit by bit throughout the Advent season so that everything reaches a climax on Christmas Eve night and is lit up for the very first time.  Maybe put up your outside lights on the Feast of St. Nicholas, December 6.  Then, you can put up your tree the Saturday before Gaudete Sunday, which is the 3rd Sunday of Advent (the pink candle).  On this Sunday, we are officially past the halfway point in Advent, so the day takes on a lighter mood to encourage us to persevere in our penance and preparations for the coming of Christ, which is almost here!  On the last Sunday of Advent, you may wish to put out your Nativity, but don’t put baby Jesus in the manger until Christmas Eve night, and hold off on the 3 Magi until Epiphany comes in January.

Speaking of St. Nicholas Day…  I highly recommend you begin celebrating his feast day, whether you have kids or not.  What’s more exciting than waking up to candies, nuts, and fruit inside your shoe?!  🙂  It really is a fun feast day.  Have everyone (adults included!) leave their shoes outside their bedroom door on the night of December 5.  Fill their shoes with goodies such as chocolates, nuts, candy canes, clementines, and small toys for them to awake to the following morning.  Tell your children the story of the real St. Nicholas who was known for secret gift-giving to the poor and orphaned.

from nestfullofeggs.blogspot.com

from anaturalnester.blogspot.com

If your family recognizes Advent as a separate season from Christmas, what do you do during this season?  And if you don’t do anything for Advent, then please, re-read the quote above from Jacob Michael and ask yourself: why not?