Wait for it . . .

About a month ago, just after Halloween, I went shopping for some desperately needed shirts and pants.  I went to a local clothing store and quickly got down to business picking out and trying on clothes.  As I was checking out, the clerk packed up my merchandise in a Christmas-themed bag.  I was shocked.  Christmas already?  The clerk was even more shocked at my reaction:  “Haven’t you noticed the Christmas carols that have been playing the whole time you've been shopping?”  I hadn't noticed, and with those words I suddenly realized that the store was decked with boughs of artificial holly and a five foot diameter Christmas wreath.  Christmas had sprung up all around me, and I hadn't even noticed.

I love Christmas – I love Christmas carols and Christmas cards; I love midnight Mass and mistletoe; I love Santa Claus (though I could do without the Elf on the Shelf – creepy) and Saint Nicholas; and I especially love rejoicing in the Good News that the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.  But I also love waiting for Christmas.

    

Advent is the four-week liturgical season of joyful waiting.  During this season, we prepare ourselves spiritually for Christ’s birth and for his Second Coming at the end of time.  Christmas is a big deal (and the Second Coming of Christ will be a really big deal, trust me), so it’s worth preparing for; it’s worth waiting for.  Advent helps me change my state of mind from my ordinary cares to supernatural concerns – from the secular to the sacred.  Advent helps me appreciate how special Christmas is and how blessed I am.

    

My family has its own Advent traditions.  We light the Advent wreath before dinner on Sunday evenings and read passages from Isaiah foretelling the coming of the Messiah.  We tag a tree at a local Christmas tree farm, but don’t pick it up until closer to Christmas.  We set up the Crèche, but wait until Christmas to place the Christ-child and the angel in the stable.  In short, we prepare for Christmas, and we wait for it.

          As for me, I try to make time to do some spiritual reading and works of charity during Advent (C.S. Lewis’ Miracles and United Way’s Holiday Hands program this year).  Like everyone else, I’ll also be doing my Christmas shopping, sending holiday cards, going to school Christmas concerts and participating in all sorts of Christmas events and holiday parties.  I’m not a Scrooge who refuses to do anything Christmassy until Christmas actually arrives.  But first and foremost, I celebrate Advent.  I believe in Advent.  I need Advent because I need to notice that Christmas is coming.  I need to wait for it.