Waiting for Christmas
Posted by Arwen Mosher in Faith on Monday, December 01, 2008 5:29 PM
I am determined to celebrate Advent this year.
I know, I know. Coming from a practicing Catholic, that statement doesn’t sound particularly strong. Of course I’m going to celebrate Advent; we all do. It’s not like I’ve been simply ignoring the liturgical season in years past.
But the thing is that in a certain way, I have been.
Concentrating on Advent is a challenge in a culture where the “holiday season” starts immediately after Thanksgiving. The sights and sounds of Christmas are everywhere, making it easy to forget that liturgically, Christmas has not begun.
When I was a kid my parents did a good job of emphasizing Advent and Christmas as separate seasons, but since I’ve grown up I’ve slowly slid into the habit of not giving Advent its due. Every year I’ve put up the tree and decorations earlier and starting playing Christmas carols earlier, and the result has been that I don’t properly celebrate Advent in my heart, don’t give the attention I should to the season of anticipating the coming of Christ.
And the effects have not been good: last year I was tired of the Christmas decorations and carols before Epiphany even came around! I’d so overdone my early celebrating that I’d burned myself out and couldn’t celebrate Christmas when it was actually meant to be celebrated.
I don’t do this with any other liturgical seasons. I certainly wouldn’t go around singing “Jesus Christ is Risen Today” during Holy Week! And I’d be horrified if I showed up at Mass during Advent and heard Christmas carols.
So this year I’m trying to make my own celebration participate in the Church’s real liturgical celebration, as best I can. I’m starting with the music, since that forms the soundtrack to my life and orders the thoughts in my head. I’m determined not to play Christmas music until Christmas Eve at our house this year.
I can’t save all the decorating until Christmas Eve because I’d go crazy with the stress (we’re hosting family Christmas for the first time this year!) but I’m going to try to do it as late in Advent as possible, and really put a lot of focus on the Advent wreath and calendar. I didn’t want to bite off more than I could chew this year, but in future years I’d also like to do a Jesse tree.
Most importantly, I’m going to try to concentrate on throwing myself into Advent in my spiritual life. I’m praying the St. Andrew novena for a special intention, and I’m going to try to spend extra time meditating on the Advent readings and prayers from Morning and Evening Prayer, so as to keep my focus in the right place.
Every time I see a Christmas tree or hear a carol at the grocery store, I know I’ll feel a little twinge that I’m making myself wait for Christmas. But ultimately, I’m confident that I will be able to celebrate Christmas better this way, and that I’ll get a lot of good out of it! I’ll let you know how it goes.
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