Advent reflection points 2011

Hello again everyone,

Advent is well underway now and I thought I’d take a minute to give an advent reflection.  First just a quick update, I have been very busy beginning this quarter, we have had a couple of extra things that they wanted to get in before Christmas rather than postponing them until January, plus the professors want to get some level of an assignment turned in before the break so that they have the break to go over them.  So we have all been dumped on with a ton to get done.  Thus, I will keep this short.

Advent is a time of preparation.  In current times it consists of the four Sundays preceding Christmas and the weeks that follow them, in a year like this with Christmas on a Sunday we have 4 full weeks of Advent, but it can be as short as the Monday after the 4^th Sunday.  Over time the length of Advent has varied, I’m not quite sure how the traditions have changed, but I know that had one time Advent was 40 days, to correspond with Lent before Easter. 

Now onto the reflection… (It may be more of my ramblings than a reflection, sorry, my mind is in a lot of different places.)

The image that comes to my mind most years during Advent is that of John the Baptist.  John fulfilled prophecies from the Old Testament regarding a messenger preparing the way of the Lord when He comes.  “A voice cry’s out from the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make straight the paths for our God.”  John was the one there to do this for the incarnation of the Word becoming flesh. 

How do we prepare in a special way for Christ’s coming, not only in the celebration of Christmas, but every day.  Is our little corner of the world ready for Him at all times?  How can I make it better? 

My mind tends to wander quite often to preparing Christ’s way to come into me.  Into my heart, into my soul, and into my body through the Eucharist.  What obstacles need to be removed for this, namely sin.  How do I recognize when Christ comes in, this was a problem for Him when He was walking around Palestine and Israel, what do I do to make sure that I don’t make those same errors? 

What will I do after Advent to continue my readiness?  How will I live every day in anticipation?

These are just some of the thoughts that I reflection during Advent.  I hope that you may be able to use them to guide your own prayer and preparation.

Peace,
Adam