"I’m co-hosting in the Keeping Christ in Christmas Blog Carnival, along with Tina from Truly Rich Mom and Monica from Arma Dei: Equipping Catholic Families. We'll be sharing different ways, tips, stories and real-life experiences that will help us focus on Jesus as the Reason for the Christmas season. Please scroll down to the end of the post to see the list of carnival entries.”
Before even thinking about Christmas, as a Catholic we must first take the time to properly prepare for this wonderful Feast Day, the birth of our Savior. Understanding Advent and it's purpose within the liturgical year and our domestic church (our homes) is vital in truly living out and preparing for His holy birth and properly keeping Christ in Christmas. It's interesting that we only think of these things during Lent, while this to the human mind is understandable as one is the birth, a joyous occasion, and the other is the death, synonymous with sadness. Nevertheless Advent should be practiced much like Lent in many ways. This is another excellent opportunity for us to grow in holiness. So by keeping a Christ-centered focus this Advent, we must reflect on three things when seeking sanctification:
1. voluntary amendment of life,
2. acts of penance, and
3. works of charity.
So what are some examples of these three things?
By voluntary amendment of life I mean giving up those things that block you from sanctifying grace, namely the bad habits that surround us all the time and we have a hard time breaking. The goal is to get rid of this habit for good. I would begin by going to doing an thorough examination of conscience and then heading to Confession regarding this and if you are able to, to Communion. The graces you receive from these beautiful Sacraments will help us in our goal to amend our lives. Here are Fr. Z’s 20 Tips For Making A Good Confession o{]:¬) Dare I say to also replace these things with good things like participation in the rich traditions of our faith like:
Next is acts of penance. By this I mean to perform some kind of penance, the little things that will help strengthen your will in saying NO to some small items, like lets say giving up chocolate, or soda. Minor acts that help you with bigger temptations. You may or may not resume these acts after Advent but this little exercise of giving this little thing up helps you in the long run to avoid temptations.
Lastly, is works of charity. This is really important in our Catholic faith as we must do good and holy actions for others to strengthen our relationship with the Christ Child and Holy Mother Church. Christ gave us a prime example of the need for works by His actions while here on earth. These are great ways to start actions that might become good habits in the future (beyond Advent and Christmas). In our home we reinstated the daily family Rosary, going to Mass as often as possibly, spending more time focused on our children and less socializing, reading and celebrating the feasts of the saints (Advent is particularly a good time to start this in your homes as there seems to be a slew of popular saints during this time). On a personal level, I began reading a book about deeper spirituality which will definitely carry over after this liturgical season but will help my spiritual life in the long run. Part of this could also be to give others that are lonely during this time more of your time, and also sending Christmas cards to those that might not get as many cards as others. (don't forget your priests at Christmas either). Also, donating to charity, your Church or offering Mass intentions for others is a great way to do acts of charity.
The biggest focus or work of charity that our family is going to focus on as a whole is towards the priests involved in the situation in Newton, CT. Many of the wakes, funerals and burials for both the children and adults of Newtown, CT are being held this week. While many of us are looking for ways to reach out to the this community, prayer is the most powerful way we can help to sustain the victims’ families, the Priests, and the so many loved ones involved in this very difficult time. Our family is offering different prayers for that community specifically for Saint Rose of Lima which is the Catholic Church in Newtown, Conneticut. So I'm participating this activity as well:
Today, I caught a post going around on Facebook that was written by Father Suarez's (the pastor there) sister.:
My friends,
All of you, I am sure, have heard so much about the tragedy in Newtown, CT. Many of you have received emails from me about my younger brother, Father Luke Suarez, who is a priest at St. Rose of Lima parish, a Catholic church just down the road from Sandy Hook Elementary. He, and his pastor, Monsignor Weiss, arrived at the school within moments of the shooting, and have been caring for the community ever since. The picture I have included was taken at the school.
Father Suarez has an impossible task before him. His diocese is without a bishop right now, and there is very little leadership and assistance from above. Monsignor is older, went through a serious surgery recently, and is personally devastated by the losses. The parish is very large, and parishioners tend to be wealthy and somewhat ill-catechized. The rectory has received serious threats, and as my brother gave the homily Sunday at the noon mass, the church had to be evacuated by SWAT teams. After experiencing identity theft and online hacking incidents, he had to erase all of his internet accounts. After a weekend of endless media requests, notifications and vigils with heartbroken families, and little sleep, he now has two wakes and two funerals every day, until the fourth Sunday of Advent. Father Suarez has not even been ordained two years.
My large family has been trying to send Father Suarez our love and support from afar, and one of my brothers was able to visit with him briefly a couple times. All he asks for is prayer.
I have been wracking my brain, trying to think of a way that our beautiful, loving community could tangibly reach out to Father Suarez, Monsignor Weiss, and the St. Rose parish, to support them in this most awful of times. I have sent many prayer requests, and I am asking for more prayers again. But I also want to ask everyone to search their hearts, and if the Holy Spirit moves you, please consider sending one of your family's Christmas cards to the rectory, with a few words of love and encouragement.
My brother has said over and over again that without the prayer support he is receiving, he could not keep going. And this week is only the beginning. Everyone there is still in shock. Their peaceful home has been desecrated by violence. They will need to live with this sorrow forever.
But in our weakness is His strength. Grace abounds. Can you help me carry him through this time of trial?
On a hopeful note, Father Suarez did say that no media coverage has even touched the deep, beautiful awakening of faith that has occurred there. Their tiny church, where my children have received sacraments and where Father Suarez was ordained, has been full of people in prayer without ceasing since this tragedy happened. Love is stronger than death.
Please feel free to share the address with your family, friends, and community. An outpouring of love will sustain these good priests through their impossible ministry--impossible on their own, but possible with God.
I am so grateful to live in this community. We are all so blessed with one another. Every day, I see you all loving one another as Christ loved. Thank you for letting me reach out to you now
With humble appreciation,
{name deleted on purpose by me}
If you can make a monetary donation you can go to the Church's website to do so already.
As members of the Body of Christ, we join our hearts and prayers to remember our brothers and sisters in Newtown, CT. In addition, my children will be making snow flakes for the children of Sandy Hook Elementary, the PTSA there will be collecting them until the 12th of January, they want to surprise the children when they get back to school with them.
Please join us in keeping Christ in Christmas by taking the next five days and the week ahead in keeping this focus, remember Christmas ends on January 6th, the feast of the Epiphany, so there is still time to put these ideas to practice. God bless you and keep you in this Advent season.
Blessings,
Erika
Here are the links to the other blog carnival participants. I hope you'll take the time to visit them and leave a comment on their posts! :) The list will be updated throughout the day, so please do come back and check on them. God bless us all!
Here are the links to the other blog carnival participants. I hope you'll take the time to visit them and leave a comment on their posts! :) The list will be updated throughout the day, so please do come back and check on them. God bless us all!
Thank you for a rich post, and for co-hosting the blog carnival. Your amending life, penance and charity make me think of preparing the "mangers of our hearts" to receive Jesus.
ReplyDeleteHi dear Erika! :)
ReplyDeleteSo sorry for the late comment.
And thank you SO much for joining/co-hosting the carnival with me and Monica! :)
Thank you for reminding us that we really need to prepare the mangers of our hearts to receive Jesus, above everything else! :)
Thank you for the reminder of how to keep Christ in Christmas! :) God bless always!