Advent: Time to Reconnect with God

 

The Challenge of Celebrating Advent in a Secular World

When it comes to Advent, it can be a strange and often overlooked season for many people. In today’s society, Christmas celebrations begin as soon as Thanksgiving ends, with decorations, music, and holiday sales filling every store and television screen. People start wishing each other “Merry Christmas” long before December 25th arrives. While this enthusiasm for Christmas is understandable, it can lead to Advent taking a back seat, causing many to miss out on its spiritual significance. Advent is not meant to be overshadowed by premature celebrations of Christmas but rather observed as a sacred time of spiritual preparation. It serves as an invitation to slow down, reflect, and make space in our hearts for the coming of Christ.

By the time December 26th arrives, many are already tired of Christmas because the secular world has stretched the holiday season over two months, neglecting Advent altogether. However, in the Church’s liturgical calendar, Advent is a distinct and sacred time of preparation, reflection, and anticipation—a time to spiritually prepare for the coming of Christ at Christmas and, ultimately, His second coming. The Church invites us to embrace Advent’s true purpose, which is not only about waiting for Christmas but about renewing our faith, deepening our relationship with God, and preparing our souls for the presence of Christ in our lives.

Instead of being swept up in the commercialized version of Christmas, we should take this season as an opportunity to refocus our hearts on Christ and enter into Advent with a spirit of patience, prayer, and repentance. The world encourages instant gratification, but Advent reminds us of the beauty of waiting—waiting with expectation, hope, and trust that God’s promises will be fulfilled.

Using Advent as a Time of Reflection and Renewal

Advent can be used as a time to get away from the distractions of life. If you notice that something in your life is taking you away from God, try removing it during the Advent season and make more time for prayer and intentional silence.

You can also take on an extra penance for Advent as a way to more fully prepare for the coming of Christ at Christmas. One way to incorporate a form of penance into Advent this year is to take up some form of exercise if you don’t currently do so. Another way to incorporate penance is to take cold showers (although this can be difficult to do during the winter months depending on where you live).

Advent has been traditionally referred to as a “mini-lent” meaning that we should take on some form of a penitential practice during the Advent season as it will help us to realize just how much we need to rely upon God and His good graces in order to get through life. Sometimes we can fall under the impression that we can live life on our own and on our own terms. While this is certainly true for a short period of time, in the long run, we will often find ourselves coming up short.

Our best option is to strive to do the will of God in whatever way God has called us to live life whether that be through the priesthood, consecrated religious life, or the single state.

Trusting in God and Letting Go of Control

Whatever our state of life happens to be, most of us can agree that there isn’t enough time spent in silence and prayer. In the world we live in there are so many things vying for our attention whether it be social media, advertising, etc, or the demands of our jobs, or worrying about the ones we hold near and dear to our hearts.

Taking some time throughout the day to surrender those worries and turning our attention to God can be a great help in relieving the anxiety that we may feel. We are ultimately not the ones who are in control, God is the one who is in control and wants what’s best for us, for He is a loving Father.

What better time to practice surrendering to God than during the Advent Season? Advent is the perfect time to surrender to God because we are preparing for the coming of Christ. To prepare for the coming of Christ, we should be prepared to change our lives, turn away from sin, and turn back to God. Part of turning back to God is learning to surrender to God when things don’t seem to be going our way.

Encountering Christ Through Peace and Authenticity

Another part of preparing for Christ is to learn to be within the peace of God. If we allow ourselves to be okay with being who we are and not trying to be someone that we’re not then everything would run a lot smoothly, there’s a complimentary between people of different persuasions. Allowing God to smooth out everything that we aren’t and to let our mask down and to authentically be who God has created us to be and to take up our cross daily can be a perfect opportunity to encounter Christ during Advent.

What Will You Do to Prepare for Christ This Advent?

Advent is not just a countdown to Christmas; it is an invitation to prepare our hearts for Christ. Whether through prayer, fasting, surrender, or personal reflection, we can use this time to draw closer to God and experience His presence more fully. The beauty of Advent lies in its invitation to slow down, reflect, and anticipate the coming of Christ with renewed faith and hope.

Asking ourselves what distractions we can remove to focus more on God, how we can increase our prayer life, what sacrifices we can make to grow spiritually, and how we can trust in God more fully this season allows us to move through Advent with a deeper awareness of its purpose. Every small effort we make to grow spiritually during this season prepares our hearts to receive the fullness of joy at Christmas.

As we move through Advent, we should be mindful of its purpose, not just as a season of waiting but as a season of preparation, renewal, and transformation. Will we accept the call to prepare our hearts for Christ?

The article was written by: Br. Athanasius Mary of the Knights of the Holy Eucharist