Preparation Season... on keeping Advent

from Faith and Faith  by Arwen Mosher

Two years ago, I blogged about my new resolution to keep Advent.

I now make that resolution every year. In some ways it’s gotten easier, but I don’t know if it’ll ever be really easy.

In order to keep Advent and Christmas in their proper seasons, we have to hold off on celebrating Christmas while the world is singing about “the most wonderful time of the year.” Then, just when we are given the chance to commemorate the joy of Christ’s birth in the real Christmas season, everyone else is done. That’s a challenge, and it’s always going to be.

For me, there’s also the fact that I love looking forward to things. Some people live in the past; I struggle to live in the present instead of the future. I enjoy preparing for Christmas - purchasing gifts and planning surprises, putting up decorations, wrapping and baking and counting down the days until Christmas officially begins. These are Advent activities, and thus enrich the season for me, but it makes it harder to hold the joy of the actual Christmas season, because I always feel wistful that the preparation is over.

However, I do feel that keeping Advent faithfully for two years in a row has made it a habit for my family, so keeping the seasons of Advent and Christmas separate has become easier to do. We listen to Advent hymns continually during December. We make a big deal out of the Advent wreath and calendar. We say the St. Andrew novena for a different special intention every year. We also try to do penance, get to confession, and generally focus on the spiritual aspects of the season of preparation. As we make these things a bigger part of our daily lives, they crowd out the premature Christmas-ing and make Advent blessed for us.

Praise God for the season of preparation! It’s a lovely one. I hope this Advent is lovely for all of you, as well!