Advent: Week 1-Day 1

We've begun one of my absolute most favorite times of the year, and I'm kicking it off by resurrecting this blog and beginning a series of (hopefully...) daily posts, reflecting on this beautiful season of Advent! Please follow my blog, and together we can prepare our hearts for the coming of Christ this Christmas.

So, Day 1; here we go. In the Gospel today (Sunday) , Jesus tells us to "watch", to stay awake so that His coming among us does not catch us off guard. This sets the tone for the whole season of Advent. The word "advent" means "coming", and during Advent we look forward to the two comings of Christ. The first and most obvious is His coming among us as the Word made Flesh at Christmas. At the same time though, we also look forward to His second coming, His return to us at the end of the world, no longer quietly in the dead of night as a helpless infant, but as Who He truly is - the King of all that is.

So the Gospel today reminds that we have to watch and be prepared for both of these comings. It is all too easy to become distracted by the stress, busy-ness, glitz, glam, and commercialism of this season; but if we do that, we run the risk of missing the whole point, the great and unspeakably beautiful gift that is the coming of Jesus at Christmas. Similarly, and on a grander scale, the noise and busy-ness of our life in general can distract us from what is most important: the coming of Christ in our own life.

This Christmas, I'd like to challenge you to better prepare for it during these next few weeks by making a sincere effort to keep first things first. Keep your eyes on Christ. Do not let the noise and clutter of the season or of any part of your life keep you from drawing closer to Him. Watch. Do not miss the coming of Christ this Christmas. Do not let Him find you unprepared. Not this Christmas and not at any moment of your life.

Pax Vobiscum