Today begins Advent. This is our journey toward Christ Mass, aka Christmas. Just as Lent prepares us for Easter, so does Advent prepare us for Christmas. Advent and Lent have a lot in common. The color is purple (the kingly color and the color they dressed Jesus in when they mocked and scourged Him). Both Lent and Advent are penitential seasons. That is why we are to pray, fast, and give alms especially during this time. It is interesting to me that so much emphasis is placed on Lent over Advent. Maybe it is because Advent is at the most 28 days and Lent is over 40 days. Still, I have also noticed that we are putting Christmas sooner every year. I hope that this Advent we can figure out something to do in a form of penance to prepare our hearts to receive Jesus this Christmas. Maybe it is to look at the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, and read the material that comes before Jesus birth. Matthew 1: 1-24 would be a good preparation for Christmas. And so would Luke 1: 1-80. These verses are packed with the preparation for His birth. We also have the Magnificat Advent meditations to focus us, and for the kids there is an activity to do. Maybe it is praying the first two decades of the Joyful mysteries of the Rosary. There is much we can do to help us prepare for Christmas. But as always lets prepare for Christmas, and then when Christmas comes lets celebrate it. I remember preparing for Christmas every year by making “Christmas Cookies” and other goodies. It meant that Christmas was very near. Still there was a rule in our household that we didn’t eat them until we celebrated His birth. Up until then was preparation. It is sad, to me, to see so many celebrations for Christmas coming before His birth. I know that it is not easy having many different family members and celebrations, and it even happens that some churches put on these celebrations. But then, when Christmas finally arrives, we are all ready tired of the celebration, and so we take everything down because we are partied out.
Fr. Thomas P. Galarneault