How to prepare for Christmas?
Yesterday was the first Sunday of Advent: the official countdown to Christmas. Here we outline briefly some things that might be helpful in preparation for Christmas.
A characteristic of Advent is the sense of patience and expectation. Both Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and Pope Francis talk about this in their homilies for this season: the days of waiting and hoping.
Overall our life tends towards waiting and hoping. When we are children, we want to grow up. When we are adults, we hope for family and professional fulfilment, a level of success to shape the rest of our lives. These hopes and expectations pull us forward.
The time of Advent is a moment where we ask ourselves: What are you hoping for? What does your hope consist of? Or to go deeper – what meaning does my present life have, my today and my now? Because we are forever straining our necks for future promises, looking for the next best thing, but not the present, and in that we miss the real understanding of Christian hope.
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI said:
If time is not filled by a present endowed with meaning expectation risks becoming unbearable; if one expects something but at a given moment there is nothing, in other words if the present remains empty, every instant that passes appears extremely long and waiting becomes too heavy a burden because the future remains completely uncertain. On the other hand, when time is endowed with meaning and at every instant we perceive something specific and worthwhile, it is then that the joy of expectation makes the present more precious.
We are not yearning for something that we do not have. We have it today, but we need to discover it.
St Josemaría also highlighted this:
We’ve got to be convinced that God is always near us. We live as though he were far away, in the heavens high above, and we forget that he is also continually by our side. He is there like a loving father. He loves each one of us more than all the mothers in the world can love their children; helping us, inspiring us, blessing – and forgiving.
Advent is about steeping ourselves in this reality – because particularly at this time of restrictions, we can tend to look towards a better world, a better reality and this expectation saps the possibility of seeing meaning in the present, in today.
Advent is about using this time of patience and expectation to redirect our gaze to Christ. Here are a couple of sugestions that may help you in these weeks:
1. Practice patience during Advent.
Savour moments. Don’t rush them, especially when it comes to people. Give people your time and attention.
Pope Francis in referring to the Gospel reading of the first Sunday of Advent said:
The watchful person is the one who, amid the noise of the world, is not overwhelmed by distraction or superficiality, but lives in a fully conscious way, with concern first and foremost for others. .. We need to look upon others with understanding in order to recognize both the misery and poverty of individuals and society, and also the riches hidden in little everyday things, precisely right where the Lord has placed us.
Peel back the superficiality that can sometimes clog up our heart and be present for yourself and for others.
2. Use tools that help you redirect your gaze to Christ during your day:
Place a Crucifix on your table. Saint John Paul II would draw a Cross on the top of a sheet of paper before writing and write “Totus Tuus Ego Sum” (I belong entirely to you.). Small ways to direct your gaze to Christ.
Change your wallpaper on your phone to help you (with a Christmas countdown or an image of an empty crib) or listen to music that prepares you. We created a nice Spotify playlist for Advent, appropriate for concentration when working or studying.
Advent Wreath: make a wreath with four candles: three purple or blue and one pink, arranged in a circle with evergreen boughs (and often a fifth, white candle in the centre). The Advent wreath corresponds to the four Sundays of Advent. The purple or blue candles represent the penitential nature of the season, while the pink candle calls to mind the respite of Gaudete Sunday. The white candle, when used, represents Christmas.
Advent Devotional – like this one done by St Josemaría Institute.
Keep a journal where you ponder aspects of our life in the light of Christ’s light. Envision it as the sun rising… and reaching it’s peak on Christmas Day!
Prepare your space, like cleaning your room! Sounds funny but honestly all these things help.
3. Use the Liturgy to help prepare you.
The Readings at Mass during Advent are really good to reflect and ponder on the coming of Christ. Reading from the Prophet Isaiah as he recalls the return of Israelites from Exile in Babylon is speckled throughout Advent.
John the Baptist harkens right back to Isaiah, "Prepare a Way for the Lord". It's happening. The definitive victory of Yahweh is about to happen. He points to Christ. The Kingdom of God is at hand.
Ultimately Advent is a moment to reach deeper into yourself. To peel back the clutter in our heart and head and give yourself the chance to be with our Lord.