When you celebrate Christmas, does it include Advent? Advent is the time before Christmas. It is the 24-day countdown to the blessed event, the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Advent helps us to put the holiday in perspective. In this podcast, Felice discusses ways you can celebrate this joyous time, whether you are living alone or celebrating as a family.

More podcasts on Celebrating Christmas here:

Countdown to Christmas

Christmas Blessings

Christmas is Real

Advent deals with the coming of Christ, yes, but also the openness of our heart to receive our Lord and Savior, as well as the more profound meaning of recognizing he came for a purpose: to open the gates of heaven and to set us free from sin.

In my church, Advent brings in the Christmas season or the start of what is called the liturgical year. This is the season of Christmas and ends in January with the feast of the Epiphany is celebrated—the coming of the wise men to visit Christ.

The liturgical year is also celebrated with special colors worn by the priests at church. They are as follows:

• White: joy and purity, and the resurrection
  
• Green – hope and perseverance the call to continue to listen
  
• Purple – penance, waiting and morning
  
• Red – martyrdom of Jesus and the sayings
  
• Blue is in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary
  
• Pink —solemnity
  
• Gold – royalty
  

Suppose you had to pick a color which would you pick to celebrate Advent. You would think white, possibly, but it is purple. Advent is a time of waiting and morning. It is a time of joy because we know the end of the story, but it is a time of hope and sorrow for what had to be because of the sinfulness, the free will choice of man. When we celebrate Christmas, we can follow the Lenten practice of prayer and fasting. This is difficult to do unless you live alone. But, some families do make this their practice.

One idea is to fast from a particular bad habit or from overeating during the holiday when it seems that cakes, cookies, and parties are abundant. It does not have to follow the strictness of Lent, the 40 days before Easter. The importance is to recognize the Christmas season as a time of reflection.

What can you do to celebrate Christmas? Decorations, sure. But keeping the focus on the “reason for the Season,” the Christ child. In our decorations, be sure to add a Nativity scene or two, a picture of the Holy Family, or something that reminds you of the coming of our Savior.

Isaiah 7:14 (read on air).

Or we can read the geology of Jesus in Matthew 1 – again a reminder of the prophecy of God the Father to Abraham, Genesis 26:4 (Read on air).

While we love the Christmas season for so many reasons, it is also a time of hardship for many. It is difficult because of the loss of a loved one, financial hardships, or perhaps illness. Yet, the key to the season’s joy is not on the external but the internal, the focus on Christ.

Isaiah 9:6-7 (Read on air)

Who doesn’t want to celebrate the season with joy after hearing that? We can each celebrate in a way that makes sense for your individual family. For us, it begins with nightly prayer. This year, Advent begins on December 3. We will begin early because everyone will be home on Thanksgiving. So we will do the first week twice. Each evening, we light one candle and pray from my favorite book.

During the Advent season, we use a round advent wreath with four candles, three purple and one pink. The pink candle is lit on the third Sunday of Advent to remind us of the momentous occasion that is to come the following week. It is a time of prayer and scripture readings, and our family adds the prayer of thanksgiving. We share what we are the most thankful for each evening after our prayer time. It is wonderful and I celebrate this time with joy with my family.

I’ve given the children advent wreaths to take to college with them so they could celebrate on their own until we gather at Christmas time. It is called the Season of Light: Daily Prayer for the Lighting of the Advent Wreath. I have purchased other books but do not like them as well. The readings are not very long, but they are heartfelt. The suggestion is given to do this during or before a meal.

However you celebrate this Christmas, I pray you are surrounded by joy. Your challenge this week is to think about how you want to prepare in the coming weeks and, as always keep Christ in your heart.

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