ADVENT IS BEGINNING

Staying awake can often be a challenge, especially when we are exhausted. Life’s demands have a way of zapping our energy. The rush to Christmas has begun now that we have had the opportunity to celebrate Thanksgiving with family and friends. The time between now and Christmas can be exhausting with many things we do to prepare to celebrate this beautiful event.

The very name of the season encourages us to focus on what is coming, not what is already here. Be on guard, the readings this weekend tell us “so that [our] hearts are not weighed down with the worries of this life.” Even Jesus knew what “the anxieties of daily life” can do to us. One day rolls into another and time flies by quickly.

Advent is a time to focus. These four weeks are a time to look backward and forward and be attentive to the human journey and God’s revelation. St. Teresa of Calcutta reminds us: “We desire to be able to welcome Jesus at Christmas time, not in a cold manger of our heart, but in a heart full of love and humility, a heart so pure, so immaculate, so warm with love for one another.” Arriving at this place doesn’t just happen. It requires vigilance and discipline with a knowledge of what is really important and what really needs the focus of our energy and time.

So let us not forget, our master’s advent in upon us. Let us ask ourselves; how we can prepare the manger of our heart.