Advent/Christmas 2007

Encountering the Living Christ

An Adult Advent

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Advent is a busy time of the year for everyone, jammed with celebrations, shopping, and decorating. It can be difficult to get into the season of Advent when so much around you is focused on Christmas.

Below are a few suggestions on how to keep Advent in Advent. They are short, but each encourages prayer, reflection, or action each day.

• Make or buy a clay pot. Put it at the center of your prayer space or near your Bible. On small slips of paper, write down the ways in which you see or watch for the presence of God in your life during this Advent. Fold the slips of paper and place them in the clay pot.
• Set aside time during the weeks of Advent to read and reflect on the chapters in the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults on Jesus, Incarnation, and Mary. Use the Reader's Journal as a guide for your reflections.
• Adopt a form of grace before breakfast, lunch, or dinner to use throughout the Advent and Christmas season. Suggestions can be found in Catholic Household Blessings and Prayers.
• Set a limit on Christmas gift buying. Donate a percentage of the total amount spent on gifts to a local charity.
• Challenge yourself to buy only fair trade gifts this Christmas.
• Spend some time reflecting on the call to charity during the season. Read short excerpts from Principles, Prophecy, and a Pastoral Response throughout Advent.
• During Advent, we focus on Mary and her response to God’s call. Identify in what ways Mary is a model of holiness for you. Examine some of the traditional prayers to Mary in the Book of Mary, and make it a habit to pray to Mary regularly during the season.
• Write a card or letter to each member of your family to give to them on Christmas Day. Thank them for all that they have shared with you. Send them a copy of the A Prayer for Families.