Soon, well already actually, you’re going to get slammed with the commercialization that surrounds the Advent and Christmas season.   Very little in the holiday season is going to be calling you to engage the deep meaning of it, the Person, the Baby, the One Who Came, God With Us, the Lord of the Universe, Jesus.   It’s to the point and has been for sometime that if we don’t take some time in November to plan for your engagement the story of the Jesus in December, it’s not likely to happen at nearly the depth we want it to happen.   And then Christmas Eve comes and we wonder, “Wow, I didn’t get the to engage the meaning of the Advent season quite the way I’d hoped…well, there’s always next year…”

But there’s a way you can avoid that this year.   Advent is about preparing to celebrate the birth of Jesus.  And that preparation takes preparation!

First, choose your book to accompany you during Advent.  I always love Watch for the Light put out by Plough publishing.

Choose some music you’ll dive into often.   Each year I look forward to dusting off this sublime version Handel’s “Messiah” of course but also John Michael Talbot’s masterful “The Birth of Jesus”.

And what about the Advent retreat you’ll attend?

This year’s annual Advent retreat at Corhaven will be on Saturday, December 5, the first Saturday of Advent to make a good beginning.   I’ll offer some reflections, we’ll listen to some great music that will lead us to Jesus, we’ll enjoy the beauty of the season and the great food of it too, have time for solitude and reflection, and finish up with the Eucharist.   God didn’t only come 2,000 years ago!   For more info and/or to register, click here.

May you have a meaningful Advent that will make for a very merry Christmas!   Creating the space for that starts now.