Bairbre Cahill
I can feel the Christmas crazy beginning to descend. I have had great plans about being organised. I actually bought a couple of presents about six weeks ago – but then it all went pear-shaped again and I find myself with a list of things to do and a shorter Advent to do them in.
Advent is such a beautiful time of the Church’s year, but it can so easily get lost in the scramble to get ready for Christmas. And I’m not against the getting ready. I think it is important to buy gifts that people will enjoy and appreciate. That takes time.
I think that the windows of houses sparking with decorations are a wonderful sight amidst the darkness of December evenings. In our house there is huge anticipation for the Christmas dinner and an insistence that it must be a ‘proper’ Christmas dinner – so no swapping the turkey for salmon this year or leaving out the brussels sprouts. There is baking to do – for ourselves and to be given to others. The caramel squares are a particular hit and Christmas is one of the few times in the year when I make them and we all ignore how many calories they contain.
So, this busyness is important. I have no desire to be an Ebeneezer Scrooge character with a “bah humbug” attitude to Christmas. The issue for me though is that I want both to prepare for Christmas and experience the beauty of Advent. The purpose of Advent is to create a space for us to reflect on what it means that God would send his own beloved to be one of us, God at the heart of our humanity and our humanity at the heart of God. That is something worth pondering, worth sitting with over a cup of tea for ten minutes and just thinking about – before the mad rush kicks off again.
So, I have been looking for an anchor that will keep me rooted, keep me in touch with the amazing reality of the Incarnation amidst everything else. One thing I have done is to sign up for the ‘Sacred Advent’ emails from the Jesuits in Loyola Press. Every day an email with a short reflection will pop into my in-box. I hope that this will encourage me to pause, to think, reflect, pray and connect. Undoubtedly there will be days when the last thing I feel like doing is pausing or praying but hopefully there won’t be too many of those! You can find this resource and many more on www.loyolapress.com/advent
The other thing I am going to do this Advent is talk to people! I’ve been wondering for a while about Christmas cards and sending them to people who I care about but do not see regularly. The increase in the price of stamps has prompted me to make a change. This year instead of sending a card to people I haven’t seen for months I’m going to phone them, have a chat and wish them the blessings of Christmas.
Planning
There are also people here in Donegal, even in my own town, whom I haven’t seen or spoken to this year so I’m planning a few mornings to catch up with people over a cup of coffee.
Relationships are at the very core of Christmas – the relationships between family and friends – and very specially, God’s desire for relationship with us, made real in Jesus Christ. Celebrating our connectedness seems to me like a good way to remind myself what Christmas is about.
What will you do in your family to celebrate Advent? An Advent wreath on the kitchen table is a beautiful visual reminder. An Advent calendar which links us into the Christmas story is a great way to weave the Word of God into our days. Whatever we do, let’s hold on to this wonderful season of the Church’s year, time to prepare our hearts and homes to welcome Jesus in.