Last minute Christmas contemplation

Tomorrow. No time to waste. My lists are still long; I do not want to go to any big-box store on Christmas Eve; and the kids and my wrinkles are growing right before my tired eyes. I must move “with speed and intensity,” as my husband directs the children during weekend house cleaning. But these final Advent days do not need to be conquered like a living room tidy-up; they are holy days meant to be devoted to faith. Shopping, wrapping, and cooking, too, but that’s not what usually gets pushed aside. Contemplation does.

Advent comes from Latin of course – adventus, which means arrival or approach. Yes, we are awaiting the exciting memorial celebration of the arrival of Jesus. We are also awaiting his next arrival, for even if it seems silly to look two thousand years later, the angel did say, “This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven (Acts 1:11).” Bible writers mention it all the way through to Revelation and the earliest church creed from AD 325, before those writings were codified into the New Testament, reads, “He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.” We affirm this belief by reciting it at every Mass. To live the liturgical season of Advent well, we must slow down long enough to think. To think about what it means to hopefully long in joyful expectation. To think about salvation history, our present redemption, and the future coming. When it comes to spiritual preparation, there is no time to waste.

This weekend, I looked for Advent devotional articles on the world wide web and jotted down a few things I liked. In relaying them to my husband, I realized that every single thing involved solitude and silence save one!

The ideas were to bundle up and take a short walk without any music player, just to walk outside quietly. The shortness is helpful to a harried mother who might not consider an hour-long stroll.

To visit church, empty, and sit in the silence. Catholics have believed in the Real Presence of Christ from the time of the apostles and we have a beautiful stained glass chapel with a golden tabernacle that is just right for a peaceful visit.

To make a warm drink and sip it for ten minutes or so without a list, catalog, or cookbook. I would have a kid on my lap in a nanosecond but that’s fine.

And to sing or hum Christmas carols. This was the only idea that involved noise and would be a household affair here. Two of my sons were in last week’s production of A Christmas Carol and better learned some songs. Since they tend to backdrop all their play with their own soundtrack, we hear things like The First Noel belted out while they build forts and Hark the Herald Angels Sing while practicing martial arts kicks. The music director would be proud of their volume!

A few days left for a smidge of quiet thought before the raucous joy of Sunday. I can carve out fifteen minutes here and there for contemplation. In the Mass readings this past weekend, the fourth Sunday of Advent, the anticipation was obvious: Isaiah 7, “The Lord himself will give you a sign: a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall name him Emmanuel.” Psalm 24, “Let the Lord enter; he is king of glory! The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness; the world and those who dwell in it.” Romans 1, “...the gospel promised through his prophets in the holy Scripture, the gospel about his son, descended from David according to the flesh but established as son of God in power...” And the final reading was from Matthew 1, the story of Joseph obeying the angel of the Lord.

“O come, thou dayspring, come and cheer our spirits by thine advent here. Disperse the gloomy clouds of night and death’s dark shadow put to flight. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.” And praise to God who adopted all of us. Sunday is Christ’s Mass; that is, Christmas! Soon we will sing a new song – “Christians awake, salute the happy morn whereon the savior of the world was born. Rise to adore the mystery of love which hosts of angels chanted from above. With them the joyful tidings first begun of God incarnate and the virgin’s son!”