2nd Sunday of Advent
It is always such a crazy time at my house as we prepare for Advent and Christmas with all the American and Polish traditions that we try to uphold. There is so much cleaning, rearranging, and prepping for Christmas that happens. There is the tree, decorations (inside and outside), shopping, and cooking/baking going on as soon as December hits. Ever since I was a little girl I watched my mom and dad and listened to all the stories from when they were kids growing up in Poland and I just fell in love with this season all together. For me Advent and Christmas is such a nostalgic time of year and even though we try to get everything done in a timely fashion there is also this sense of urgency that everything has to be done in a certain way. And in a way I always neglected that aspect of this time of year, but I also admired its beauty and miraculous way to make people feel that warmth and love and even helping some to believe in miracles again. That might just be from all the Hallmark movies I watch…but a girl can hope!
The moral of the story is that we spend the entire time preparing for Christmas and we are running around from store to store (err…um…app to app? #2020) and there is this rushed energy in the air. And then when we finally get to Christmas we are out of breath. We feel like we were hit by a few freight trains along the way. But that is not what this season is about, especially not Advent. Advent is a season of devout and joyful preparation for the coming of the light of the world, Jesus. But we somehow forget that because we get sucked into the materialistic part of this season, which is not all bad if we focus on the true meaning of this season. This season of Advent is a time to really slow down and go within and prepare our hearts for Jesus. It is a beautiful time to just be and take in every week of hope, peace, joy and love.
In this week’s Gospel, John the Baptist tells us to prepare the way for Jesus. Many people thought that he was anointed by God in some way, and he had quite a following. But here we read about how he reoriented his followers to prepare for someone else, whom we know as Jesus. We see this when John the Baptist says, “one mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals.” John the Baptist knew that Jesus was the true son of God and that we have to get ready for Him. “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.” John the Baptist’s famous words ring loud during this season of Advent to prepare and get ourselves ready whole mind, body and spirit for the coming of the light of the world.
So this week brothers and sisters as we continue to enter into the season of Advent let us focus on preparing our hearts and souls for the coming of Jesus. Let us pray that we can embody all the virtues of this season starting with hope. During these times in our world we are in desperate need of hope and we are so lucky as people of faith to spread our hope and joy to our small little corners of the world. I encourage and challenge you to just sit with Jesus this week; maybe light a candle and pray the rosary. As you’re preparing your home for Christmas, let His divine love and presence wash over you. Embrace this season of Advent because it was given to us to help us go within and grow in all the virtues of hope, peace, joy and above all love.