Leaning into Advent - The Catholic Times

Like every year lately, November has been filled with Christmas music, toy commercials and advertisements. It’s as if we skipped straight from Halloween to Christmas, nearly bypassing Thanksgiving altogether. But what about Advent? While the secular world has jumped over Advent, I would encourage you to lean into the Advent season and help your children do so as well.

At the heart of it, Advent is a time of waiting and patient anticipation for the coming of our Lord. The Catechism of the Catholic Church elaborates on this, stating that Advent “makes present the ancient expectancy of the Messiah, for by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior’s first coming, the faithful renew their ardent desire for his second coming” (CCC 524). But how do we explain this to our children when they’re surrounded by the idea that it is already the Christmas season? Setting the tone in your house doesn’t mean that we aren’t celebrating Christmas, or that you have to take your tree down if it is already up, but that we are building even more anticipation for the coming of our Lord on that joyous day. Keeping Advent traditions in your home is an easy way to do that, especially with children.

When I was a child, we had a tradition of decorating our Christmas tree for Advent with purple and rose-colored ornaments and lights until Christmas Eve. We even had little Advent candles made out of craft foam that we would add to echo our Advent wreath. Then, on Christmas Eve, we would decorate the tree with our usual Christmas lights and ornaments before going to Mass, helping to show outwardly that our time of waiting had come to a close.

Now as a parent, I get to help create that same magic for our children, and I invite you to do the same. Consider some of these simple ways to help your children or perhaps even yourself dwell in Advent this year. A Jesse Tree, a tradition similar to an Advent calendar, can be as easy as adding a new ornament to the tree each night, or you can take it a step further by reading scripture. Perhaps take the Gospel reading for the day and read it as a family. Many parishes also give out free Advent prayer guides or reflections, often tailored to children. Apps like Hallow or other online resources also offer kid-friendly Advent reflections or prayers that you can use as a family.

If your family enjoys listening to Christmas music, an Advent playlist may be just the thing to help you lean into the season. Songs like “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” and “Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord” are just a few examples to add to your own playlist. The whole family — from parents to little ones, to teens, and even grandparents — could add their own songs that focus on waiting for the Lord’s coming. Remember, too, that songs reflecting on waiting for our Lord’s second coming also fit the Advent theme.

Another small way to build anticipation in the Advent season is to set up your nativity scene slowly. If space allows, have Mary and Joseph make their way across the living room, moving from bookshelf to bookshelf each day until Christmas Eve. You could then add the baby Jesus figure after everyone else has gone to sleep so it can be found on Christmas morning in the manger.

Of course, the simple Advent wreath is always a wonderful way to experience the Advent season. The candles themselves represent hope, peace, joy and love. Each week, we build anticipation by reflecting on those virtues. We have hope in knowing that Christ conquers all, peace in trusting God’s providence, and joy in knowing our Lord is coming. We close the season with the greatest of these, that being love — the love that comes to us through our Lord as an infant in a manger, the very Word made flesh who saves us for eternity. The same Lord for whom we patiently wait to come again.

I know my own family has had years when we forgot to light the candles on our wreath every day, but I think we all ought to make it a goal this year to keep going all the way through Advent. When we find ourselves wrapped up in physical preparations for Christmas, we grow tired and just want to skip over the Advent season straight to Christmas. Being patient is hard — not only for our children but for us as well. But by leaning into Advent, we aren’t denying the joy of the season but rather elevating it. We wait in anticipation because it is something wonderful and should be given special honor — not rushed into and rushed out of by Dec. 26. Remember, too, that the liturgical season of Christmas continues into January, coming to a close on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, so there is even more time ahead to celebrate!

For now, though, as we begin Advent this weekend, we will wait — not because we aren’t excited about Christmas, but precisely because we are. Just as it says in James 5:7-8, “Be patient, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord.” Waiting is not wasted time — it’s sacred time. May we find Christ in these moments of preparation and discover that the waiting itself is part of the gift of the season yet to come.

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