Advent Moment - O Wisdom!

O Sapientia (December 17) O Wisdom (Eccl 24: 5), you came forth from the mouth of the Most High (Sir 24: 30), and reaching from beginning to end, you ordered all things mightily and sweetly (Wis 8: 1). Come, and teach us the way of prudence (Isa 40: 14).

Catholic Culture


We have a week left before Christmas Eve is here.  Let us take a moment to collect ourselves:

Are we ready for the Baby Jesus' arrival? Or, have we lost sight of Him in the hustle and bustle in our preparation for Christmas?  If the second one is our answer, then we should really consider pausing what we are doing.

We still have time to do the following:

1.  Attend an Advent penance service or go to a priest for confession.

2.  Learn more about the Church's ancient tradition of the O Antiphons.  You can start by clicking the link to Catholic Culture above.

3.  Light the Advent candles and do spiritual reading with your family or just sit still, and listen for God's gentle whisper.

This Advent...

This Sunday is the First Sunday of Advent.  As is my personal tradition, I like to make Advent resolutions in anticipation of the birth of the little baby Jesus.

So, this Advent I will:

- abstain from frivolous entertainment (or at least cut back on them considerably).  This means, less time playing games and watching certain TV programs that I really like.

- not fall into the trap of having to compete with the crowds for finding that special gift.  I will also put myself on a budget.

-  pray more, talk less.

-  make the special feast days that fall within the Advent season, more special, especially the Feast of the Immaculate Conception and Our Lady of Guadalupe's Feast day.

-  try to make frugal meals as a small sacrifice for those who do not have enough to eat.

-  remember the less fortunate, either by prayer or in some concrete way.

-  spend quality time with the family in the evening when we light our Advent candles, read from our Magnificat's Advent Companion.

-  make a supreme effort to conquer my faults.

-  forgive anyone who has hurt me and reach out to anyone I may have hurt.

-  hold off on trimming the tree and putting out the other Christmas decorations until the last week of Advent.

-  not open any Christmas card until the last week of Advent.

-  spend quality time with Jesus in Adoration.

-  smile or greet anyone who looks sad or lonely.

-  make it a point to be still and not fall into the frenzy of the worldly Christmas spirit but be more reflective in the spiritual Christmas spirit.

-  give a gift to someone who isn't expecting anything and who cannot reciprocate.

- watch spiritually uplifting programs and movies, including childhood favorites like the Little Drummer Boy, A Charlie Brown Christmas, and  How the Grinch Stole Christmas so that I can relive the magic of the Christmas anticipation when I was a young girl.

-  sing Advent hymns and carols.

- be joyous.

Advent - Season of Anticipation

                                        by  Brother John M. Samaha, S.M.

          The season of Advent has a twofold character, a double meaning.  Advent prepares us for Christmas, the celebration of Christ’s first coming to us.  And it also reminds us to direct our minds and hearts to be prepared for Christ’s second coming at the end of time.

          In Christian usage the word “advent” (adventus) has a special liturgical significance, but the origin of the word is pagan.        

          At the time of Jesus’ birth the pagans observed a manifestation of their pagan divinity that came to dwell in its temple at a certain time each year.  This pagan feast was called advent, and it marked an anniversary of the return of their pagan god to the temple.  During this special time the temple was open.  Ordinarily the temple was closed.

          In the days of the Roman emperor, advent also celebrated the coming of the emperor.

          The word “advent” was suitable to describe the coming of the Son of God in the temple of his flesh.  Gradually the use of this word was limited to describe the coming of the Lord.  This advent, the coming of the Lord and the anniversary of his birth, replaced the advent and birth of the unvanquished sun of the winter solstice.  This use of the word “advent” gained prominence during the reign of the Emperor Constantine (306-337).  To grant tolerance to all religions and to allow the open practice of Christianity, he issued the Edict of Milan in 313.  As Christian feasts were adopted and celebrated, pagan festivals were soon replaced and forgotten.

          The ancient idea of advent underlies the prayers of Advent that call forth the coming of the Lord, often with the same image of the temple.

          Now Advent signals a time to prepare for Christmas, the celebration of the first coming of the Lord.  But the prayer texts and Scripture readings of the Sunday Masses and the Liturgy of the Hours give ample attention to the second coming of the Lord to which we look forward.

          In reality the three distinct accents of the Liturgy of the Advent season are defined by the three comings of the Lord: yesterday, at Bethlehem, when the Son of God was born of the Virgin Mary; today, in our world, where he is incarnate in the Church, in the sacraments, and in the faithful baptized into grace; tomorrow, when he returns in glory.

          This, then, is the rich meaning of Advent.  From the beginning of the liturgical year we celebrate the whole panorama of the mystery of salvation history.

          The variety of this season is not only desirable, it is truly appropriate because Advent is oriented toward the one who has come once for all, who is coming, and who will come.

         

          

Meditations of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta on Advent

One of my new friends is a Missionary of Charities sister. She graciously shared this beautiful Advent resource with me and I in turn want to share it with you.

 Mother Teresa Advent Meditations.

 You can visit visit the official Mother Teresa of Calcutta website here.

Marantha, Come Lord Jesus

Our Advent Wreath is ready.  We had a mishap with two of our candle holders so we had to make do with another set.  This year there is a tiny Christmas tree in the wreath and the four Advent candles are along side the wreath.  We have our copies of the Magnificat Advent Companion ready for our evening prayer readings.  These were generously provided by our church.  Tomorrow we will light the first candle and usher in the Advent season with a few resolutions:

1.  Make sure to eat dinner together at the table, as a family.  (Lately, everyone's schedule kept us from doing just that)
2.  Watch Father Robert Barron's Catholicism nightly as well as more of EWTN programming.
3.  Not stressing about the preparations, purchasing gifts, etc.  We refuse to lose sight of the beauty of Advent in the rush to get ready for Christmas.

This Advent it will be particularly busy for our family.  My husband and I are celebrating our twentieth wedding anniversary, our son is graduating from the university, of course, and more importantly, our Lord is celebrating His birthday.

My family and I hope you and your family have a very blessed and joyful Advent with all the eager childhood anticipation which makes Christmas such a miraculous and blessed time.

PREPARING FOR JESUS’ BIRTHDAY

by Brother John M. Samaha, S.M.

What do you do – besides shopping – to prepare for Christmas? Anything that is really connected with appreciating the real meaning of Jesus’ birthday? What does Advent mean for you? How can we prepare well for the arrival of Jesus at Christmas? Are you familiar with any practices or customs that help make Christmas truly Christ-centered? Remember that Jesus is the reason for the season.

Here are some ideas to consider personally, with your family, and with friends and colleagues. Do something really connected with the meaning of Advent to make Christmas truly Christ-centered. Set priorities.

Daily Reading and Reflection 
 

Set aside ten minutes or more daily to read and ponder the inspired Word of God in the daily Mass readings or in other Old Testament and the New Testament stories that present the faith of the great characters, men and women, waiting in expectation for the coming of the promised Redeemer.

Receive Jesus in the Sacraments

Consider participating in Holy Mass several times during the week, or daily if possible. Take advantage of the wonderful opportunity to receive in Holy Communion the Jesus who became human like us to redeem us.

The penitential season of Advent is also a special time to receive God’s mercy in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Participate in a parish communal penance celebration.

An Advent Wreath

Each evening before the family’s main meal light the appropriate candles on an Advent wreath and offer a brief Advent prayer. This is a time-honored practice. 
 

The symbolism of the wreath and candles presents an occasion for learning the meaning of this season. The color of the purple candles signifies the sorrow we feel for our sins, while the pink one indicates happiness for the imminent birth of Jesus. The evergreens symbolize the unchanging nature of God, and the circle indicates that God is eternal, without beginning or end. The light of the candles reminds us that Jesus is the light of the world.

Play Kris Kringle

The spirit of caring and giving for another member of a family or group is another revered Advent custom. Each family member draws the name of another family member written on a slip of paper, for whom he or she will secretly play the role of Kris Kringle (Santa Claus), or Christkindl (the Christ Child). The person whose name was drawn is now in the special care of the Kris Kringle or Christkindl, who will perform acts of kindness for the person and perhaps offer a special gift at Christmas. On Christmas Eve each tries to guess who played Kris Kringle for them.

Other Advent Practices 
 

Keep an Advent Calendar to count down the days until Christmas. A door or window is opened every day of Advent to reveal some aspect of the season in an image or text. Such a calendar can be purchased at a religious bookstore, or another option would be simply to mark each day on an ordinary calendar. 
 

Make a Jesse Tree to trace the family tree of Jesus. This is done by making ornaments to symbolize the ancestors of Jesus, beginning with Jesse, the father of King David. The tree can be made of an actual limb, felt or burlap, or construction paper. Many can participate in such a project.

Putting Straw in the Manger is another Advent practice in which the family and other groups can participate. Each time a good deed or a work of mercy is performed a piece of straw is placed in the manger. Opportunities abound for doing good deeds or works of mercy for the needy at home, at school, at work, in the neighborhood, in the parish. The straw symbolizing our charity will provide a warm and comfortable crib for the Baby Jesus on Christmas morning.

Information and materials for Advent practices are generally obtainable at religious bookstores.

Used with permission.

Advent 2011

The following is from the EWTN Advent Calender. My family is using those daily reflections with our own Advent Calender (see picture above).

Reflection

Christ is the ultimate center of meaning in the universe. It is through Christ that all people will be led to the Father. How can we hope to achieve a world in which all will seek the path of God? Only when men and women are working to achieve the unity that Christ’s redemption promises us.

Advent Action

Perform an act of kindness for someone you do not know.

Prayer

Lord, help me be at home with You, that I may listen to Your word and walk in Your way.

With the short season of Advent, we are given a wonderful opportunity to wait and welcome our new born King! There are many ways to do so such as:

1. Fasting: Either severely by bread and water on one day or by skipping a meal at least once a week. We will be less focused on our tummy and be alert for the coming of Christ as a newborn babe.  We can also focus our attention on making more mortifications during this time.

2. Silence: By keeping a close guard over the words that come out of our mouths, we will use our ears more to listen for the stillness of the night when Jesus is born.

3. Spiritual Reading This Advent Season, let the Holy Spirit guide us to that little stable in Bethlehem by reading the Book of Isaiah or any other appropriate book.

4. Gift-giving Pray and think about truly meaningful gifts you can give your loved ones, friends or those less fortunate. Let us try not to get caught up in the mad rush to buy something, especially something costly, just for the sake of appearances. If we do, there is a very good chance we will end up with an empty feeling and full of debt.  We need to remember that it is not our birthday but Jesus' birthday. What can we give Him to show Him how much we truly love Him?

5. Keeping Watch at Home  During the commercial Christmas season, there are many parties, get-togethers, concerts, etc., that will pretty much take up a lot of our time and energy. It will be very difficult to wait patiently for the birth of our Lord if we are so distracted. Let us try to maybe attend one or two social events and no more than that. Let us instead spend more peaceful time at home with our families.

What are some ways you and your family will be making this Advent time special?  Please share.

Saint Gabriel the Archangel: When the Dawn from On High Broke Upon Us

Father Gordon MacRae's post this week is one you won't want to miss.

Saint Gabriel the Archangel: When the Dawn from On High Broke Upon Us

The Tradition of the Christmas Crib

Picture source

Following a beautiful and firmly-rooted tradition, many families set up their crib immediately after the feast of the Immaculate Conception, as if to relive with Mary those days full of trepidation that preceded the birth of Jesus.

Putting up the crib at home can be a simple but effective way of presenting faith, to pass it on to one's children. The crib helps us contemplate the mystery of God's love that was revealed in the poverty and simplicity of the Bethlehem Grotto.

St. Francis of Assisi was so taken by the mystery of the Incarnation that he wanted to present it anew at Grecio in the living nativity scene, thus beginning an old, popular tradition that still retains its value for evangelization today.

Indeed, the crib can help us understand the secret of the true Christmas because it speaks of the humility and merciful goodness of Christ, who "though he was rich he made himself poor" for us (2 Cor. 8:9). His poverty enriches those who embrace it and Christmas brings joy and peace to those who, like the shepherds in Bethlehem, accept the Angel's words: "Let this be a sign to you: in a manger you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes." (Lk 2:12). This is still the sign for us too, men and women of the third millennium.

There is no other Christmas.

Pope Benedict XVI

from December 2010 Magnificat

To learn more about the tradition of the Christmas creche please visit Women for Faith and Family.

Avoiding the Super Catholic Syndrome this Christmas

First Week of Advent, Sacred Heart Church, Honolulu

The following article by was written by Teresa Tomeo.

Those of us who are doing our best to try and follow the teachings of the Church know enough to not take our cues from secular society, especially in regards to what the world says is important at Christmas. We try not to get sucked into the culture of consumerism and commercialism and what has become society’s idea of the reason for the season; the emphasis on the material instead of the spiritual. Many of us have been there and done that in our former lives and had our own “V 8” moments so to speak.

Avoiding the Super Catholic Syndrome this Christmas

My Advent Reflection - Advent and Faith

Picture source

Faith is believing without seeing. Isn't that what we have been taught about the first of the three Theological Virtues?

We are still in the first week of Advent and the frenzy of preparation for Christmas is not dying down. If anything, the mad rush to get everything ready and perfect is getting worse. If you happened to go to a mall near you, you know what I mean.

What we should be focusing on instead is on the liturgical season of Advent. I never really understood Advent when I was younger. Back then, my family went from celebrating Thanksgiving on Thursday to Christmas preparation the next day. I was the oldest and my loving mother let me be in charge of Christmas preparation. We would put up the Christmas lights, decorate the tree, play Christmas music of course the nativity would be set up, including the Baby Jesus!  We knew because of our faith that Jesus would be born.  We just never took the time to prepare for His birth!

My younger brothers and sisters, as well as my parents, really got into the proverbial "Christmas spirit". We did not realize how much we missed out as a family by not preparing for our Lord's coming.  We would have had a more peaceful and spiritual experience had we listened to Isaiah and John the Baptist foretellings instead of the commercials on television.

Now Advent has become a very important time in our respective families.  Personally, it is a time I look forward to very much.

We entered the Season of Advent with faith.

My family and I attended the Vigil Mass for the First Week of Advent followed by the Nascent Vigil for Life. That really put everything in perspective for us.  We left the Church filled with peace, joy and love for each other. 

On Sunday evening we had the traditional family blessing of the wreath, and the lighting of the first candle. We then read from the Magnificat Advent Companion, courtesy of our parish and reading from the day's Advent Calender. This year the little drawers in our wooden Advent Calender box are filled with teachings from St. Francis de Sales.

So, why do we do all this? It is because we have been blessed with faith like so many other families. We truly believe that God sent His only begotten Son as a  baby,  in the most humblest of surroundings, in order to save us. But first we must prepare ourselves spiritually for His birth.  Ultimately, He took upon our sins so that we can live forever with Him in Heaven. We in return must have true contrition and make reparation because we love Him.  This is faith. It is a gift from God and never do I realize it more clearly than when I see some who just do not believe.  It is very sad to see the rejection of God and His love for us.

I remember reading in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn,  that the protagonist asked her mother why the Jewish mamas have so many babies. Her mother explained to "Francie" that it was because each one believes that the baby they are carrying would be the long awaited for Messiah.  In a way, they had faith.  But not enough for them to accept that their Messiah had already been born a long time ago.

Advent is the joyful waiting period for the Messiah. We know this because of the gift of faith.

Spiritual Christmas Crib

Picture source.
Ann shared a wonderful devotion on her blog here.

The following directions show you how to build a
spiritual crib in your heart for Christ.
Use it to put Christ into your Christmas in a real,
living way.

Start on December 1. Read the thought indicated
about Christ's first crib.
Practice it during the day. Do this daily during
December and make your heart a worthy crib for
Christ on Christmas Day...

Reasons for Hope - Meditations for the Advent Season: Be Ready!

Proclaim The Joyful Message That Our God Is Coming To Earth Advent Hymn

25 Ideas for Advent Calender or Straw for Creche

Sacred Heart Church, Honolulu

The following are suggestions I wrote out for our Advent Calender last year.  Even though the first day of Advent was yesterday, there is still time to use these suggestions for your family's Advent Calender or to fill the Baby's Jesus' manger with straw. For those of you not familiar with this Advent tradition, you can get an idea of what I mean here.

These suggestions were written for an older teen and adults. You may have to adapt some of them if you have younger children in the home.

Day 1. I will wait 15 minutes before drinking something, especially if I am very thirsty.

Day 2. I will acknowledge Christ in a person by smiling at someone even if they do not smile back.

Day 3. I will offer my help to a member of my family.

Day 4. I will visit the Blessed Sacrament just to say "Thank you Lord!".

Day 5. I will do a random act of kindness.

Day 6. I will say a prayer for a forgotten member of my family.

Day 7. I will read a page from the Imitation of Christ.

Day 8. I will avoid listening to gossip.

Day 9. I will be extra kind to the person who annoys me the most.

Day 10. I will skip coffee or a favorite beverage today.

Day 11. I will listen to Catholic hymns instead of secular music.

Day 12. I will quiet my mind and pray the Hail Mary once, asking our Lady to show me how to be more like her.

Day 13. I will say a prayer for a forgotten friend.

Day 14. I will make a list of my sins in preparation for confession.

Day 15. I will say a prayer for a poor soul in Purgatory.

Day 16. I will say a prayer for someone who has hurt me.

Day 17. I will share with my family a special treat.

Day 18. I will make a list of God's blessings He has bestowed on me.

Day 19. I will not nag a loved one.

Day 20. I will skip lunch today.

Day 21. I will save $5.00 to give to a homeless person.

Day 22. I will do a chore I do not like to do, without being asked.

Day 23. I will pray an extra Rosary for persecuted Christians.

Day 24. I will give donate an item I like to someone less fortunate.

Day 25. I will attend Christmas Mass and I will pay extra attention to Christ's sacrifice.

Advent 2010

I have been saving the above image since the Summer. Thanks to Jill Stanek

Tonight Catholics in Hawaii will be participating in an Advent Prayer Vigil for the Unborn at

1. Sacred Heart Church, after the 5pm Mass with our pastor presiding.

2. the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace at 7:00 p.m. Bishop Silva will be the presider there.

I believe that at both Churches, prayer will include Exposition, vespers and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.

May your Advent Season be filled with joyful anticipation for the coming of our Lord. 

Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus, come!

The Second Week of Advent

The following is a beautiful poem that my friend Easter wrote and was published in last week's Hawaii Catholic Herald.

I AWAIT YOUR COMING
By Easter Almuena

My Love,
I await Your coming.
The earth trembles with joy and expectation.
Get ready to sing songs with a merry tune,

All you children of God!
Get ready to clap your hands and to dance with glee.

The mountains are raised toward You, My Love.
Their grandeur height cannot hide their desire
To proclaim Your greatness.
The rivers already roar with sweet laughter
And the oceans sway to the wind's delight.
They all joyfully await Your coming.

In time, all will do their part
To create a harmony of exaltation.
How marvelous and majestic
Your face I perceive in my heart
Its beauty already permeates the land.
I am simply awed and mystified!

I will dance on the rooftop
And my son will reach the top of themountains.
Very soon they will be in unison
With the songs of every son, daughter,
And every creature.

A new dawn breaks.
Welcome, My Love!