When the Church celebrates the liturgy of Advent each year, she makes present this ancient expectancy of the Messiah, for by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior's first coming, the faithful renew their ardent desire for his second coming. By celebrating the precursor's birth and martyrdom, the Church unites herself to his desire: ‘He must increase, but I must decrease.' (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 524)
As we renew our "ardent desire" and prepare for the celebration of our Savior's birth, in this period of waiting, we can recall that Jesus was born in a simple stable to a poor family. it is possible that His mother, Mary, and stepfather Joseph were shunned because of Mary's pregnancy. We know they were unable to find a suitable place in which to give birth, being forced to seek shelter instead in an animal's home.
The prophets, succeeding one another in Israel, had announced Jesus' coming for centuries. Yet, our Savior's birth took place very quietly, hardly what one would expect for not only a King's birth, but a holy occurrence of extreme magnitude. Humility, simplicity, holiness and silence surrounded the Holy Family in Bethlehem. Baby Jesus rested His sacred head on a bed of straw in a simple manger when it was not on his mother's breast. Common shepherds were the first witnesses to the awesome event of the birth of the Messiah.
Heaven's glory was made manifest in poverty. And as we wait in this season of quiet and anticipation of our Lord's birth, most of us are surrounded not with simplicity and silence, but instead with glitz and glitter, noise, bold advertising, and people shoving and fighting for parking spaces at malls in a race for sale items and the latest gadgets or electronics. Our holy season is reduced to preoccupation with whether or not we can manage to get our hands on the new Wii Nintendo system before it's sold out, rather than striving to come closer to the Lord in prayer – such a severe contrast to the reality of Jesus' birth – of the true meaning of His coming to us in the form of an innocent Child.
The season of Advent is a wondrous season of preparation. We prepare our homes and our churches, decorating them for this beautiful celebration. We should also prepare our hearts to receive the Christ Child. We can purge ourselves of what should be purged to make room in our hearts to allow Jesus in. "Oh marvelous exchange! Man's Creator has become man, born of the Virgin. We have been made sharers in the divinity of Christ Who humbled Himself to share in our humanity" (Antiphon I of Evening Prayer for January first).
We know that to enter the Kingdom of Heaven we must become like children. Jesus did this literally for us. We need to humble ourselves to become little. We need to make time for prayer. Visits to the Blessed Sacrament will bring us very close to Jesus and give us amazing peace, grace, and strength. Retreating deep into our hearts, seeking our Lord throughout the busy days of Advent will keep us in communication with Him and help us focus on what is essential during a season of hustle and bustle.
Make Time for Prayer
Parents should make time for prayer within their families no matter how busy they feel they are. Teaching children to take even a moment each morning to greet our Lord, thanking Him for a new day, offering it all to Him, and asking Him to use them, will help transform an ordinary day into opportunities for grace and redemption. Parents should make use of the dinner table as a time of coming together, lighting the Advent wreath, praying together and enjoying each other's company away from the busy world outside the door of the home.
While we take time out during what is meant to be a season of quiet to pause and contemplate, what will we learn about the mystery of our Lord's simplicity and humility as He lay wrapped in swaddling clothes in a manger? What can we do to recapture and rekindle this holy time of year amid the chaotic atmosphere of our time? Let's begin in our families, slowing down to pause and pray, seeking moments throughout our days to offer our hearts fully to God.
We can be a light to the world, to all around us, much like the star that drew the Magi to the Christ Child. What can we do or what changes can we make to become a light and lead the way to others? How can our words and actions help to convert hearts? Let us pray that we will draw others to Jesus because they see Him living in us.
"Only when Christ is formed in us will the mystery of Christmas be fulfilled in us. Christmas is the mystery of this marvelous exchange" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 526). Let us pray that Christmas will be truly fulfilled in us all as we strive to become "little," allowing Christ to live through us, lighting the way to Heaven.
