Advent | So much to say, so little time

Advent Wednesdays: Light

Deutsch: Opferlichter (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Today I want to point you to a post by another blogger: Advent: On Seeing Light And Poverty. It’s been nearly two weeks, and I’m still turning this post over in my mind. Light is a central theme of Christianity: light of the world, Christ our light, light to the nations. When we pray for light, it’s because light symbolizes hope. Security. Warmth. Homeyness. All that is true, but until I read Rae’s post, the obvious never occurred to me: when the light is turned on we see everything more clearly, the bad as well as the good, the difficult and uncomfortable realities as well as that which uplifts us.

During Advent, light is used symbolically every night, in a progressively more expansive way each week. This year, I realize that if Jesus associated himself with the poor among us (as often as you did it for the least of these, you did it for me), then this season requires us to face the unpleasant realities, both in the world around us, as I wrote about on Monday, and in ourselves, as I wrote about yesterday.

Published in:

on December 19, 2012 at 7:29 am Leave a Comment
Tags: Advent, Christianity, Poverty

Advent Wednesdays: Waiting

What I love about the blogosphere is the way we can touch and be touched by people we’ve never met and may never meet face to face–yet we can all help each other along our spiritual journeys. (I started to say “life journey,” because it’s not only religious blogs that challenge and shape my thinking, but everything I encounter online. But the simple fact is that for me, all journeying is spiritual journeying.) Last week in the course of visiting other people’s blogs for 7QTs, I came across a reflection on Advent that brought my full-speed-ahead to a dead halt. I asked Jason, of Pannoneappetit, if he would allow me to share it here:

Of all the figures in the Infancy Narratives, the one who resonates most with me is Simeon. Waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting… for years… for the promised Child Whom the Lord revealed that he (Simeon) would see. And then one day — Emmanuel appeared, and he held Him, blessed Him, and pronounced his terrible prophecy to our Lady (cf. Luke 2:22-38).

Waiting — in the digital age, what can be harder? Could I be like Simeon, waiting for seemingly endless years to see the Messiah, with death drawing ever closer? Today, we expect to click a button online, and voila! Something happens or appears instantaneously. “Yes, God, I’ll choose the ‘See the Messiah’ option; charge it to my credit card and make it snappy, since I’ve got a holiday party to attend this evening.”

But we forget that history stretches farther back than five minutes ago. Salvation history unfolds slowly over centuries, until, in the fullness of time, when God entered human history directly in the Second Person of the Trinity, in the truly new and radical event of the Incarnation. There are periods of preparation, sometimes centuries-long, before we are ready to behold the Messiah.
And Advent waiting is not passive. It is a time of waiting, yes, but also of preparation for the Lord’s Incarnation. It is a time of cleaning house, setting things in order, making the stable of the heart ready for the Lord to take His place therein.

To wait expectantly — not passively; to wait in humility — not trying to force my timetables or plans on God (as if I could)… to be more like Simeon this Advent, and beyond. May it be so for me.

(Jason’s original post may be found here. You should visit him. He shares recipes.)

Published in:

Advent

on December 12, 2012 at 8:16 am Comments (1)
Tags: Advent

Cute Quick Takes

___1___

You know you’re in a breastfeeding home when your three-year-old BOY says, “Mommy I gonna nuss da baby.” And you turn around to see this:

(Notice the pulled-up shirt. Naked doll mandatory.)

___2___

Things to warm a Catholic mama’s heart: the boys dressing up in Indian clothes, going on a hunt-and-fish expedition, and setting an imaginary Thanksgiving feast in front of the couch, which they preface with the sign of the cross and “Bless us, O Lord, and these Thy gifts…”

___3___

Nicholas came wailing down stairs one morning while Julianna was playing with SonoFlex (a communication app). “I can’t find any long pants!” he said. (End of the world, you know.) Julianna, at this precise moment, hit a button on the iPad and the electronic voice said dryly, “Are you kidding?”

___4___

Sunday night, we made Christmas cookies. We finished dipping peanut butter balls in chocolate, and I told the boys they could use spoons to clean out the bowl of paraffin and chocolate. Ten minutes later they came into the living room, where I was rocking Michael, with very red mouths lined with very black chocolate. Nicholas had chocolate all over him. “Nicholas, you have chocolate on your arm,” I said.

Alex piped up, “Yeah, he fell.”

“He fell in the chocolate?”

“Yeah.”

Okay, then.

___5___

Nicholas has not learned the fine art of secret keeping. I should have known this, but I thought I started including Alex about this age. We went shopping and had a pointed conversation about keeping it secret so it would be a surprise for Daddy. He came home and helped me wrap the present and put it under the tree.

And when Christian came home? “Daddy we got you TIES!”

When we all stopped laughing, I said, “That’s it, Nicholas, you’re fired from Christmas shopping!” Good thing that’s not his only gift.

___6___

I wrote a post for Catholic Mothers Online about celebrating saints’ days in Advent–the easy way. Here’s what we did as an Advent Calendar activity for St. Nicholas’ feast day yesterday:

St. Nicholas bread. Like his miter? (Mitre?)

___7___

And I have a fiction piece up today, in which Dystopia might not be all bad. I’m happy with this one; I think it has potential.

Oh yes–bonus if you read the whole post: what my boys do while Christmas tree shopping:

Published in:

on December 7, 2012 at 6:28 am Comments (8)
Tags: Advent, Advent calendar, Nicholas

Advent Wednesdays: So You Want A Creative Calendar?

Well, here you go. If you’re a make-it-yourself kind of person, you can try one of these lovely ideas:

First up, from my ever-awesome long-time friend and fan Shelley:

Second, from the lovely Elizabeth at That Married Couple comes this (click the picture to read her post on what she’s chosen to do as an Advent countdown! If you think a daily activity is too much, this might be right up your alley):

The website Inspirations For Home has several to offer, including this:

This one is adaptable to all kinds of ideas–I’ve seen this done using stars of david, for instance, instead of tags

and this:

Another perennial favorite is the mitten garland calendar (this one is paper, but you can do it with real mittens too; see here for an example):

: Photo by Anders Ruff Custom Designs, via Flickr

Do you have a crafty or creative take on the Advent calendar? Please share!

Published in:

Advent

on December 5, 2012 at 7:35 am Comments (3)
Tags: Advent, Advent calendar

A Visit (and giveaway!) with Sarah Reinhard, author of “Welcome Baby Jesus”

Last week I posted a review of Sarah Reinhard’s book, Welcome Baby Jesus. Today I’d like you to welcome Sarah herself to the blog!

Sarah, tell us a bit about yourself, your family, and what got you started writing for families and mothers.

I started blogging back in 2006 and it’s turned into writing for families and mothers. It’s a group I relate with because I’m part of it.

I live with my husband and three kids on a small farm in Ohio. We keep busy with all the usual things, plus chickens and horses and more, oh my!

There’s so much focus in your book on changing the heart. A lot of your activities have a strong penitential flavor to them. We tend to think of that as more a Lenten theme; why is it also important during Advent?

Advent is a penitential season! We forget that so quickly and easily, but it’s so critical that we prepare ourselves and our souls to meet Jesus. To do that, we have to step away from the sin we carry.

What better way to approach the manger than with a heart hungry for him?

Many of the “acts” you offer are all-day commitments, like Monday of Week 2, when you suggest that for one day, children obey the first time they’re told. Do you have suggestions for those whose mornings are so crazy, we they have trouble eating breakfast together in the morning? How do you suggest we share these reflections together?

In fact, I am one of those families! The first thing that comes to mind for my family (because maybe this year I will, in fact, try using my own book with my own family) is to do the reflections the night before, perhaps as part of an after-dinner (or even during dinner) discussion. I’ve even thought about making it part of our before bed ritual during Advent.

Then, the next morning, you can just remind each other of what the day’s focus is, maybe pray the prayer together, and out the door you go with your crazy day!

In the introduction to Welcome Baby Jesus you reassure us that it’s not critical to do every single day. Since the 4th week of Advent frequently gets swallowed up by the Christmas season, do you recommend moving some of those later reflections (which are beautiful!) earlier in the season? Or does it matter?

I don’t think it matters. At least, it can’t matter for ME, because I’ll get all obsessive and focused on that. And that is NOT what the focus is to be!

If you miss a day–and chances are, if you’re anything remotely like me, you will!–forgive yourself and pick it up the next day. It’s okay. Jesus understands. And he will be there for you on December 25. Period.

I love the fact that your book doesn’t end with Christmas Day, but celebrates the octave of Christmas and Epiphany. By the time Christmas arrives, so many are fed up with the whole season, and ready to get back to “ordinary time.” Why is it important to draw the distinction between anticipation (Advent) and celebration (Christmas)?

We lose sight of what Christmas really is about when we don’t prepare. The culture would have us believe that we ARE preparing when we shop and buy and decorate all throughout December.

I would maintain, though, that the more important preparation happens internally, within us.

Who will we be on Christmas Day? Are we ready to hold our arms open for the Baby? Can we give him our all?

It’s such a big deal that there’s more than a day to process it and celebrate it. And thank goodness for that! We spent four weeks getting ready, so now we get to spend a whole season celebrating!

What other projects do you have to share with us? Any exciting news coming down the pike?

My latest book, A Catholic Mother’s Companion to Pregnancy: Walking with Mary from Conception to Baptism was released this fall and is the first in the new CatholicMom.com line of books from Ave Maria Press. You can learn more about the book here. I blog at SnoringScholar.com and also write regularly for CatholicMom.com and Integrated Catholic Life. You can hear me with a Mary Moment on the iPadre podcast and as for exciting news…nothing I can share as of yet.

Well, if that’s not a tease, I don’t know what is. Guess we’d better all keep Sarah on our radar!

And now….for a giveaway! Sarah and I are giving ONE lucky winner a set of our Advent/Christmas books. If you like what you see, leave a comment here between now and tomorrow (that’s Tuesday, Dec. 4th, 2012) at midnight and be entered to win a signed copy of Welcome Baby Jesus and Joy to the World: Advent Activities For Your Family!

For extra entries, help me spread the word! Mention Welcome Baby Jesus and Joy to the World on Twitter or Facebook (and mention me so I know about it!–Facebook: Kathleen M. Basi, Twitter: @kathleenmbasi). Better yet, refer people to this post. For each one you’ll get an additional entry. For every day you tweet or FB it, you get additional entries. On Wednesday morning, we will do an old-fashioned, low-tech drawing and announce a winner.

Any questions? If not–go!

Published in:

Advent

on December 3, 2012 at 7:28 am Comments (6)
Tags: Advent

Welcome Baby Jesus

In these last few days before Advent begins (does anyone else feel discombobulated because there’s an extra week after Thanksgiving?), I’d like to take the time to introduce you to a great little book written for young families: Welcome Baby Jesus, by Sarah Reinhard of Snoring Scholar fame.

Liguori promotes Sarah’s book and mine as complementary resources. Where I’m focused in on the practical, she zeroes in on the heart of the spiritual journey that is Advent. Essentially, this is a book of daily devotions for Advent and the octave of Christmas plus Epiphany. It’s very easy to read–you could finish the whole thing in an hour–but it’s written to be savored a day at a time, to offer a chance to slow down and reflect–which is, after all, the point of the season of Advent.

Each Sunday lays out the “theme” for the week:

Week 1: getting ready–specifically preparing our hearts
Week 2: closely related: repentance
Week 3: love
Week 4: anticipation

Each day includes a short Scripture passage, a reflection, a prayer and a “live it” moment. These activities are targeted specifically at young kids and are incredibly practical, often drawing parallels between the interior and exterior lives. For example: to represent getting your heart in order, you should pick up a room in your house. Another day she suggests using a soft voice to help us remember that we are seeking the quiet of Christ’s presence in our hearts. I love this concept of using outer actions to help direct an inner reality.

Sarah is refreshingly frank about the troubles that plague family life: bickering, button-pushing, and the like. They happen in all our families, and it’s only natural to spend Advent examining relationships and looking for ways to heal them. And lest you think you, as an adult, will get nothing out of a book aimed at children, read this quote, from Monday of Week 4: “Angels are not the little winged babies we sometimes see in pictures; they are powerful spirits that fight for God. The fact that Mary was afraid tells us something about how we can rely on our guardian angels, the ones God has given us to protect us. “

<Wow.>

Most resources treat Advent and Christmas separately, but not this one. For the eight days, or octave, of Christmas plus Epiphany, she digs into the Christmas story. I love how she gets into the minds of the characters and thinks about them in a fresh way. Were people ticked off when the shepherds showed up in the middle of the night yelling about angels? How crazy must it have been to see kings, in their fancy clothes, flat on the dirt floor in front of a baby?

By the time Dec. 25th actually arrives, most of us have been surrounded by trees, decorations, cookies and music for weeks, and sometimes it’s easy to feel all “holiday-ed out.” But during this time, Sarah’s focus is much less “Christmas-y” in the cultural sense and much more “person”-focused: a birthday banner for Jesus, a birthday cake or special treat (which, by then, will be a welcome change of pace from cookies–at least for our family!).

All in all, this is a book I can recommend wholeheartedly, and at $2 it’s a steal.

Next week I will have Sarah come “visit” and tell you a bit more about herself and her book, and we’ll give away a copy. So check back on Monday!

Published in:

on November 28, 2012 at 7:26 am Comments (4)
Tags: Advent, books

7 Quick Takes

___1___

Guess what? It’s only a week until Advent! Are you ready?

___2___

I finished making our list of Advent calendar activities a couple of days ago, and I’m very excited about it. We’re going to do some new things this year–as the kids are getting older, we can transition away from busy work and do some things have more substance. We’ll celebrate the saint days this year, and we’ll do some stargazing. (Crossing my fingers that the weather cooperates on that one.)

___3___

Speaking of magical items….the writing is on the wall. “Mommy, who puts the pieces of paper in the Advent calendar?” Alex asked me yesterday.

“Who do you think does it?”

Alex grinned. “You?”

“Yup.” I wagged my finger. “But that doesn’t mean I’m going to tell you ahead of time.”

Santa, thy days are numbered….

___4___

Speaking of Advent…is anyone else ready to tear their hair out that the bleedthrough of the shopping season has pulled back onto Thanksgiving Day? One has to wonder if Thanksgiving will no longer even be a holiday, for all intents and purposes, within a few years.

___5___

Perhaps you will not be surprised to hear that we did not shop at six, nine, or midnight. In fact, we’re not shopping at all today, with the possible exception of a grocery store run, because we’re out of eggs. No, instead of pursuing (not-so) hot deals, we went to bed at 9:30 last night. I slept until quarter of seven this morning. I can’t tell you the last time I slept more than 8 hours. I subsist routinely on six.

___6___

I’ve been doing Jazzercise lately. A friend of mine has been recommending it for exercise, and I was very skeptical, but there was a Groupon last week, and I decided it was worth a try. Day 1, I felt like it was exercising my brain more than my body, it was so hard to keep up. Day 2, I thought my head would explode. Day 3, however, I actually enjoyed it. And it burns a LOT of calories. Jazzercise advertises “up to 600.” Online sources are more moderate, giving a number of 380. That’s the number I’m taking, but it’s still more than twice what I burn walking, bike riding, or on the Nordic Track.

___7___

This has been quite a week for heavy-duty posts. I fussed about “experts” who (in my opinion) overstep the bounds of their areas of advice, and, more importantly, I talked about the difficulty of keeping patience as the number of children grows. Don’t you all have trouble keeping your temper about little things? I was hoping some of the more experienced moms would weigh in, but perhaps my timing–the day before Thanksgiving–was not the best. Hoping I can convince some of you with big families or older families to weigh in today! Hint, hint!

Have a great rest of the holiday weekend!

Published in:

on November 23, 2012 at 7:30 am Comments (2)

Advent in the Year Of The Baby

There’s an old truism that says, “Man plans, God laughs.” The entire later part of this year, we have shaped the future around one day: December 15^th. More than one person got wide-eyed with my self-assurance about this date. There’s that “Murphy’s Law” thing, you know. And my insides wiggled uncomfortably, because I know Murphy’s Law quite well…but all reason told me I was being paranoid. After all, I’ve never gone into labor.

And so I planned our family life around a December 15^th delivery. We had all our big Advent calendar activities planned for the first two weeks; as of December 11^th, all the major commitments were done, and we planned to take it easy the rest of the month, stay close to home, do nothing stressful.

On November 29^th, when I picked Alex up from piano lesson, I said, “Um, honey, we may be having a baby this week.”

Alex threw both fists into the air. “YAY!” he said.

“Well…” I hesitated. “You need to realize something, Alex. If we have a baby this week, we’re not going to be able to do all the Advent calendar activities.”

He paused. “Why not?”

“We just won’t,” I said. “Trust me. We’ll do as much as we can, but if we have to have a baby this week, we aren’t going to be able to do it all.”

He pondered for a minute, then shrugged. “Okay.”

I missed days 1-10 of the Advent calendar altogether, and although Christian tried valiantly to make the activities happen in my absence, the reality is that Advent Reclamation this year is a poor shadow of its real self, and the little ones—pardon, the middle two—have pretty much no idea what’s going on. It’s an Alex show this year, because he’s the only one who’s made that “tradition” connection so far. But I’m not really upset about it. In the grand scheme of things, it’s only one year, and the excitement of a new baby more than makes up for the loss of the daily anticipation. I mean, let’s be honest: how can making St. Lucy buns compare with this?

Or this?

(I know. I saved the best for last.)

Published in:

on December 13, 2011 at 8:28 am Comments (6)
Tags: Advent, family

Planning Advent When You’re Even Busier Than Usual

News flash: we’re having a baby in two weeks!

So what does a family that puts such a big focus on Advent do when there’s a four-day hospital disruption in the middle of the season? I decided to share our Advent calendar activities list this year as a guest post for Catholic Mothers Online. I hope it might help others see how to make this daily activity thing work, even in the busiest season.

(Now, whether or not it works…well, I’m sure I’ll be posting on that topic shortly before Christmas!)

Click on through and tell me what you think. Does this look doable to you?

Published in:

on December 1, 2011 at 4:35 am Comments (1)
Tags: Advent, adventcalendar, Christmas, time management

It’s that time again…(sticky post…scroll down for regular programming!)

Advent is upon us! I invite you to join me this December in reclaiming Advent. Don’t give in to the busy-ness that steamrolls right over the holy hush of this beautiful season…the materialism that turns off the Christmas carols on December 26th, when Christmas has only, finally, just arrived.