An Advent Reflection
12/16/19:
Recently, I have been asking people what the season of
Advent means to them. This question has
been met with many different answers and some extremely interesting insight as
to how individuals view Advent in their lives.
This brought me to compare the different responses with my own feelings
of Advent leading to some pretty intense reflection over the course of this
weekend. As the boys were sleeping
Saturday night after a long day, I sat down and begin to write out the
different Advent answers/questions that were on my mind. Pulling all this together has been the most
difficult part however, if you’ll bear with me, I would like to give it a
try.
Advent, as we know, means “coming” or “arrival”. Of course in our faith, this is in reference
to the coming of the Jesus Christ, or the birth of Jesus celebrated in
Christmas and our preparation for this most holy event. This concept made me wonder, as Christians,
do we spend more time in actual preparation, or panic, for the upcoming birth
of Christ in Christmas. Christmas is
almost here and with that means deadlines.
There are presents to buy, houses to clean, meals to plan, food to shop
for, travel to plan, and the eternal question of “do I have everything ready”
to answer. The previous statement seems
to sum up the events during Advent for the overwhelming majority of people I
spoke with. Panic. It seems ironic that many of us don’t ask
this same “do I have everything ready” question regarding our spiritual lives
during the season of Advent…I mean, isn’t that what the season is for? Now, granted, I have felt the same way as
others throughout this time of year thinking of what it is that I will need to
do next. So, perhaps we should try this,
compare during Advent our relationship with Christ and our personal, spiritual
preparation for the birth of Jesus with our ability to complete tasks timely in
order to entertain others on Christmas.
This Preparation vs. Panic concept also brought me to
another questions; how does this happen?
I mean, we know what the seasons of Advent and Christmas are about, the
importance to our spiritual lives both seasons are and yet, many of us as
Christians continuously fall into the “rat-race” of Christmas time the same as
so many others do. Perhaps the answer to
this is in a statement someone made about being busy. “If the enemy cannot get you to sin, he will
attempt to make you busy resulting in closing off your ability to grow closer
to God.” Let’s think about this
statement this person made. Advent and
Christmas are two of the very most important seasons of our Catholic Christian
lives and yet, if we are so busy being wrapped up in all the hustle and bustle
of the “season” how can even the most devout Catholics grow their spiritual
lives. What can we do to slow ourselves
down and keep the Enemy from distracting us from our relationship with
Christ? I guess each of us must answer
that question ourselves. One thing is
for certain, just as the shopping/commercial Christmas season will be over
before we know, so too will the cleansing/calming/reflecting/preparation season
of Advent.
It is time we put the unnecessary aside to make room for the
necessary in our lives. Don’t let the
season that is set aside for the very purpose of drawing you closer to your
Savior, be realized in a heap of torn wrapping paper and dirty dishes following
the chaos and noise in an empty room.
Instead, use the remaining days individually to take time, slow down,
and prepare for Christ to fill you with peace.
Jason C. Swann/OLMC