Advent Preparation

Yesterday I spent some time on our library's website reserving books for the upcoming season. If you haven't done that yet -- get busy. I was able to snatch up all of the books I wanted but one on Our Lady of Guadalupe. While we don't use the activities, we do use the Catholic Mosaic booklist. They are the best of the best, and I am especially fond of the Advent list:

Saint Francis and the Christmas Donkey by Robert Byrd
The Clown of God by Tomie dePaola
The Miracle of Saint Nicholas by Gloria Whelan/ Judith Brown
Saint Nicholas by Ann Tompert/ Michael Garland
Saint Nicholas: The Real Story of the Christmas Legend by Julie Stiegemeyer/ Chris Ellison The Legend of Saint Nicholas by Demi
The Real Santa Claus by Marianna Mayer
The Lady of Guadalupe by Tomie dePaola
The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomie dePaola
The Night of Las Posadas by Tomie dePaola
The Very First Christmas by Paul Maier/ Francisco Ordaz
A Small Miracle by Peter Collington
The Donkey's Dream by Barbara Helen Berger
The Crippled Lamb by Max Lucado/ Liz Bonham

The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry/ Lisbeth Zwerger

This week we'll get out the Jesse Tree, the Advent Wreath and Advent Calendar. I am adamant that we not begin to celebrate Christmas during Advent. I'm starting to get a little nuts with all the Christmas shows on television and songs on the radio. Everyone is in full celebration mode. I wish that our clergy, especially Catholic clergy, would send home the message that Advent is a season of anticipation, not celebration.

When I was growing up my mother was firm on the notion that we clean the house before we get out the Christmas decorations. I would get so frustrated with every To Do list. Why did we need to dust out the cabinets and clean the closets just to get the Christmas tree up? But now I see how that logic applies to our spiritual lives. We can not celebrate the Lord's birth until we have prepared ourselves, spiritually.

This week I will attend Adoration and Confession -- the first step in preparing myself for Advent. And then I love the preparation that comes with the feast days we celebrate during this season, and reading the books in the list above. On December 5, we'll hang our stockings and talk about St. Nicholas and enjoy his Feast Day and the treats that come with it (and here is a fabulous resource for that day). And everyday, we will read scripture about our Jesse Tree ornament, and each Sunday, we will light the special Advent candle and say the particular prayers. And the younger children will argue over who gets to hang the date on the Advent calendar, and hand out the little sugar treat.

I feel badly for those who skip over this season of anticipation. Without the anticipation, the Feast Day is the end of the season and not the beginning.

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