Advent

Peace Be With You

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Photo by Irina Anastasiu

The holy season of Advent has begun once again! Amid the secular hustle and bustle of holiday decorating and shopping this should also be a time of spiritual reflection and prayer. Thanks to a rockstar hubby and our parish annual Advent Vespers series, this new mommy was able to participate in both. While my husband put the little one to bed I headed to church for evening prayer. 

I hadn’t realized how truly full and busy our days had become until I sat silently in that candlelit sanctuary. This is by no means a complaint. Our daughter has filled our lives with more joy than we knew we were capable of and we continue to fall more in love with her every day. With her lighting up our world with adorable baby babble, there simply aren’t many moments to pause for quiet reflection. This was an opportunity for which I am immensely grateful to my husband. It was a blessed night out in which I was able to sit with Christ and pray for two of the people I love the very most without distraction. 

We expend so much time and energy maintaining our relationships with our loved ones. However, we often forget to love Christ in a similar fashion. These Vespers services are among my favorite events put on at our parish as their main purpose is to do just that. During that hour spent surrounded by fellow parishioners while lost in my own silent prayers I felt the presence of the holy spirit in the room. I felt a deeper connection with God than I have in months and was overwhelmed with a sense of peace. I pray everyone is able to grow in their relationship with Christ this season. 

Puzzling Through Advent

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In lieu of chocolate Advent calendars this year, my sister combined a beloved family tradition of ours with this season of preparation for the coming of Christ. Every year during Advent we break out a puzzle with the goal of completing it by Christmas. This year my sister gifted us a beautiful nativity puzzle specially designed for such a project.

First Snow

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Bouncing a baby through her first ever holiday season has been one of the greatest blessings of my life and has also completely zapped my usual blogging time. The spare moments which used to be dedicated to accumulating nature photos and stringing together flowery writings are often consumed with dirty diapers and baby giggles. Thus, today’s post comes to you from one frozen grey afternoon in Indiana when we finally saw the first flurries of snow drift through the bare trees. I pray everyone had a happy Thanksgiving filled with family and good food. I also hope this Advent season can be a time of reflection for everyone. Happy Friday!

Preparation of Advent

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Photo by Ronaldo R&K

Many people, myself included, are enthusiastically getting into the Christmas spirit, decorating the tree, planning gift shopping and of course belting all the usual holiday tunes in the car. Amid the excitement it’s easy to forget that the Christmas season is in fact still several weeks away. Yesterday, December 3rd marked the beginning of the holy season of Advent, a time which is first and foremost dedicated to preparation for the nativity. 

Although in countless households across the world, this preparation likely includes the baking of delicious Christmas cookies and the wrapping of toys and gadgets for family members, this should also be a time of preparation of our own hearts to receive our Lord, Jesus Christ. Our associate priest once aptly termed this time of the year as mini Lent. In addition to the jolly times and good cheer we enjoy with friends and family during the build up to Christmas, it’s also necessary to set aside time for quiet reflection and adoration of Christ. This is also a time of renewed service for many Christians, whether that be through bell ringing in front of the grocery store or by spending the weekends working at the local soup kitchen. Much like during Lent, we can all find ways to give of ourselves a little more this Advent season in a spirit of service toward our neighbors.

One of my favorite ways to embrace this spirit of giving is by helping to orchestrate the weekly Advent adoration and vespers services which have become a tradition at my home parish. The first time I witnessed one of these services I was still unbaptized and in my own process of discernment about the Catholic faith. The beauty and reverence of these evenings were instrumental in softening my heart to later receive Christ through baptism and first Eucharist. As such, I was determined to keep them as a regular Advent and Lent tradition at our church even after our former associate priest originally responsible for organizing the events was assigned elsewhere. These services were my first recognizable encounter with the Holy Spirit and the first time that I truly felt like a member of Christ’s Church. I pray that those in attendance now can receive similar graces this advent season as we all await the nativity of Christ.

Advent: Mini Lent

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Although the weeks leading up to Christmas are a time of twinkling lights and joyous carols, Advent is first and foremost a season of preparation for the coming of Christ. Our associate pastor beautifully reminded us of this in Sunday’s homily when he spoke of Advent as mini Lent. Aside from beloved family traditions like cookie baking and Christmas tree hunting, there are so many ways to give a little more of ourselves this Advent season that can be as simple as going to confession or attending mass during the week instead of just on Sunday. How are you preparing for the nativity of Christ?