“Preparing for the coming of the Christ Child can be a disorganized time,” Henn admitted, but added that, “Parents can choose to make it a time of blessing.”
“It is up to parents to use tradition and symbols to instill in their children the awesome wonder of the gift of the Incarnate Word,” she explained.
Brother John Mary Ignatius, of the Congregation Saint John in Belgium, agreed that it is work for families to develop the prayerful joy and penitence proper to the “second most incredible event in the history of humanity,” after Easter.
Brother John will be in the Anchorage Archdiocese in December, where he plans to give three public talks about how Christians can prepare for Advent.
In a phone interview with the Anchor, he said families that light a candle in front of an icon of Mary, read “one little verse” of the Bible and ask, “Jesus, Savior of the world, come into my heart” can bring peace into their homes and prepare for Christ’s coming.
Brother John also suggested that the faithful “be a beggar of the presence of Mary,” and ask her how to receive the Christ Child whom she held and clothed and fed.
Brother John suggested that the faithful model Christ who makes himself a gift at Christmas. To this end, children could make their beds everyday or take out the trash without being asked.
Of her childhood, Henn recalled, “We made an extra effort to be kind to each other and offer annoying behavior from a sibling up in place of our own transgressions,” and they made little sacrifices, “like giving a sibling an extra turn to sled down the hill, or carrying in an extra armload of wood.”
Together as a family
Brother John also said the faithful can “adopt” a poor family during Advent or volunteer at church or in the local soup kitchen. These gestures are important he said because “we can’t tell a Christian family from a pagan family except that we love one another.”
As a part of the “joyful penance” of Advent, Brother John also suggested a fast, for example, eating two smaller than normal meals once or twice a week. He said such a fast is designed to “purify the body in order to allow it to fly unto God.”
A ‘massive discovery’
All of Advent’s symbols, activities, prayers and almsgiving help Catholics acknowledge and prepare their souls for a massive discovery, Brother John said.
“We have a Savior,” he reflected — one who saves mankind from “eternal death, from evil, from our own misery.”
And ultimately, “Christ is coming back in glory,” he said. “It is a joy and privilege to await him day in and day out.”
Printed with permission from the Catholic Anchor, newspaper from the Diocese of Anchorage.