How to Make Advent Meaningful

Advent is my favorite time of the year! I love celebrating Christmas and being around family and friends to do so. It's a time where people are grateful for what they have and are generous toward others. While the lights, gingerbread houses, Christmas trees, and Santa Claus are all fun things, the real reason we celebrate Christmas is because it is the day that Jesus came to us in the most humble form of a newborn child. Notice the "Christ" in Christmas! A lot of us get gifts or presents for Christmas, but God sent us the ultimate gift because if Jesus had never came to save us fro. our sins, we would never be given the gift of eternal life with God! With all of the other Christmas festivities and traditions, it can be hard to keep the reason for the season in the center.

I recently watched a video of Father Mike Schmitz, one of my favorite people to listen to, called The True Meaning of Advent. In the video he explains that the most important reason we celebrate Advent and Christmas is to prepare ourselves to celebrate the first coming of Jesus as a baby. There is nothing wrong with listening to Christmas music, decorating our houses, and doing other Christmas traditions. In fact it may help us prepare to celebrate Christmas! However, the issue is when we focus on these things too much and Christmas finally comes then we realize that we didn't fully prepare ourselves to celebrate Christmas. This issue is easy to solve when we realize our motive for doing what we do to celebrate. For example when you decorate your house or put up a Christmas tree, instead of thinking about just the excitement of decorating the tree, try to realize how beautiful it is and how much more beautiful God's gift to us is! Or when you're hustling around to get to family Christmas celebrations, instead of saying you have to go think about how blessed you are to have family that you can celebrate the gift of God with!

The second part of the video is what really got my attention. The main reason for Advent is to prepare ourselves for the first coming of Jesus, but there is a much deeper meaning involved. It is also to prepare ourselves for Jesus's second coming. Really think about that and let that sink in for a minute. No one knows when the second coming of Jesus will happen. Now the second coming of Jesus does not just mean the end of the whole world. When we die and witness God before our eyes, that is also the second coming of Jesus to us. We all will witness a second coming of Jesus, because we all will die someday.

How in the world are we supposed to prepare for something like that? When Father Mike talks about this in his video he says imagine that on December 25th you will die. Are you ready? What would you need to do to get ready? How would you use the season of Advent to prepare for that moment? I know this is a lot to process and think about, but we can only be ready if we get ready. When we put this into perspective, all of the holiday stresses and little things we worry about seem to fade away and give light to Jesus. What are some ways we can prepare ourselves for this?

Forgive and ask for forgiveness. When we hold grudges against people or don't forgive them it is the worst thing we can do for our souls and relationship with God. It is the complete opposite of what God does to us and what he calls us to do for others, which is to love. If we don't forgive and love others like God forgives us, it is incredibly difficult to have a relationship with God. It also can make us feel anger and resentment which is definitely not how we should feel before meeting God face to face.

Give more than you get. Almsgiving is one of the best ways we can grow in faith. When we sacrifice something for the goodness of others, God works through us to show them love as well as help us grow in his likeness. It also shows us what all we have to be thankful for and what God has blessed us with. Almsgiving doesn't just have to mean donating money, but that is a wonderful option! Another option would be donating items for people in need. You can also volunteer your time at places such as soup kitchens, homeless shelters, helping a friend or neighbor do something around their house, or church functions and festivities. Another great idea is to visit nursing homes or looking into an adopt a grandparent program in your community. There are a lot of elderly people who would love even just a card for Christmas!

Pray daily. This is an important thing to do year round to have a good relationship with God! Praying daily doesn't have to mean that you spend an hour or more praying. It could be as little as 15 meaningful minutes a day! Spontaneous prayer throughout the day is also a good idea. Personally I like to say either a rosary or Divine Mercy Chaplet daily. Reading the Bible and praying over the Scriptures is a must. When you read the Scriptures try to apply what you are reading to a specific aspect of your life so you can reflect and better yourself for the moment you meet Jesus. If you live with your family, have a family of your own, or have close friends around, make it something you do together! Praying and reading Scripture with friends and family brings everyone closer to each other and to God.

Fasting is another important way to grow in faith. Fasting allows us to become closer to God by giving up something we care about in order to realize how much more important God is by showing us that we can live without most of the things we consider a must, even Starbucks! Ha! Fasting, like Almsgiving, also shows us what all we have to be thankful for because no matter how bad we think we have it, there is always someone who is worse off than we are. When we know this, it becomes easier to love and serve others as God calls us to!

Have a blessed Advent and Merry Christmas!