Advent - Preparing for Christmas

Advent is a four-week season of preparation for the celebration of the coming of Jesus at Christmas. Christmas is not the end in itself, but simply the beginning of the new life of God among us. The real wonder of Christmas comes to us at Easter when we realise what the birth of Jesus was really about having experienced the harrowing reality of life alongside the wonderful beauty! Christian belief is that God is present in all things, all moments .... with hope present in both the best and worst of life experiences.

If we force plants to grow before their natural time, they are often yellow, leggy and without resilience. If the plants are foods, they are often tasteless and without the best of expected substance. If setting out on a marathon there are stages to pass before the finish line is conceivable: preparation, planning, reflection, pacing, hydrating .... If one takes off at a chase without preparing, etc - arriving at the finish line will never be possible. The same principles apply to sitting exams or attaining any worthwhile goal.

Advent is the preparation for Christmas, as vital spiritually as the preparation for a marathon. The commercial world highlights the finish line of an overflowing cornucopia of food and burgeoning gifts of all forms at prices and quality reminiscent of the leggy vegetables that are undernourished and under nourishing. What's the rush with putting up the decorations, filling freezers with more food than would feed a famine struck nation, blinging up to bypass the natural darkness of the season. The darkness is a place of rest, recuperation and reflection needed before we can really savour the true wonders of Christmas on 25th December.

As Patrick Kavanagh says in his poem Advent:
We have tested and tasted too much, lover -
Through a chink too wide there comes in no wonder.

As a child, I remember the great anticipation of Christmas in all its' aspects to include building up towards a great new welcome for the birth of Jesus as well as the material goods associated with celebrating all the traditions as a family. I continue to enjoy the same with an adult mind and heart.

Could we just stop to press the pause button as we set out on a fresh start of life before Christmas in the season of Advent? Could we stop and consider what it is that deserves our gratitude? Could we take enough time to realise what our hearts desire is? Before us is hope, light in places we have not yet entered and joy in the simplest of experiences. Kavanagh writes of the newness that is in every stale thing! Let's shake off what is stale and useless in our lives during this season to arrive with free and open hearts this Christmas.

Cathy Burke
Catechist in the Lucan Partnership of Parishes