How to Prepare Without being a Scrooge
Advent has begun, raising the yearly question of how to best prepare for the coming of Our Lord as a college student living within a secular culture, while avoiding being a Scrooge about it.
Advent’s season of preparation is supposed to prepare us not only for the celebration of Christ’s birth, but also for his second coming.
In the words of paragraph 524 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “When the Church celebrates the liturgy of Advent each year, she makes present this 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.”
Advent occurs while the natural world slows down. The days become shorter, darker, and colder. In a like manner, we are invited by the Church to slow down, reflect and prepare our hearts for Christ.
In addition, the words of John the Baptist in the Gospels call us to repent and turn back to the Lord. But how are we supposed to do all that?
Compared to Advent, Lent’s preparation seems straightforward. We’re invited to deepen our relationship with Our Lord through prayer, fasting and almsgiving: categories which make “deciding what to do for Lent” somewhat clear. Advent, on the other hand, doesn’t possess such a straightforward set of categories. So, how should one prepare?
Within a secular world, which celebrates the Christmas season leading up to the day rather than proceeding from it, setting Advent aside as a season of preparation for Christmas can be difficult. Advent’s beginning is also when finals begin to loom, limiting the time available for extra devotions.
Furthermore, as college students, we aren’t always able to take part in exterior Advent practices such as the Advent wreath, waiting to decorate for Christmas or setting up a Nativity scene. Those things are usually better suited to the family and the home.
However, even after one returns home for winter break, the way one’s family keeps Advent might look different. For some, it may be non-existent.
How then are we to live out the season of Advent regardless of our circumstances? The answer is in the words used to describe Mary in Luke’s Gospel: “she treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart.”
Since our external situation is out of our control, the way to keep Advent is within one’s heart. This is true for everyone, not just college students. Following Mary’s reflective attitude through Advent is the key.
This is not to say that external practices don’t matter. Indeed, as we are both body and soul, the external and physical deeply impact the interior and spiritual. However, Advent happens in the heart and can take place even if the external situation makes it difficult.
Just like Mary treasured the things said about her Son and pondered them in her heart, we can treasure and ponder the words of Scripture, particularly the Gospels, which speak about her Son.
Other ideas include praying the rosary while meditating on the mysteries of Christ’s life or even just spending a few extra moments in personal prayer to reflect on Our Lord’s birth.
One could also choose to take on a voluntary sacrifice such as cutting down on social media or TV in order to create more silence and space for God during this time of preparation. The point is not to “do something hard,” but to create more space for God to work on our souls and for His Word to speak to us during the weeks of Advent.
Most importantly, it’s crucial to approach Advent with charity. The point of Advent is not to condemn Christmas-eager folks for early celebration, but to prepare one’s own heart for the coming of the Lord. Being a Scrooge and ruining others’ Christmas spirit with a sackcloth and ashes view of Advent isn’t going to help anyone.
In situations where early Christmas celebrations make it difficult for you to stay in the Advent spirit, it might be helpful to simply reframe the festivities. Instead of looking at pre-Christmas festivities as celebrating something that is “right now,” it can be helpful to frame them as celebrations which are looking ahead to the joy to come on Christmas Day.
For a college student, Advent begins right before finals week and continues in the aftermath of that week. It makes sense, then, to take an approach to Advent which emphasizes the interior preparation and doesn’t overload the external practices.
Regardless of how one chooses to keep Advent, walking it with Our Lady and asking her to help us prepare is always a good idea. She carried the Word Incarnate within herself for nine months. Like her, we are also preparing for Christ’s coming on Christmas Day.
Christi Bales is a junior English major. She is a Blessed is She mentor and the publicity officer for Crusaders for Life.