By Amberly Boerschinger | For On Mission
By all standards, we had done everything right. We lit the Advent candles, read the devotionals, chose and wrapped gifts humbly and intentionally. And yet, on the day when Christmas had only just begun, I felt let down and exhausted. I watched the Christmas morning frivolities as almost a Dickensian specter — Scrooge and the Ghost of Christmas Present hovering over the Cratchit household.
How many of us live December to the fullest and yet find ourselves less full than when
we started?
We need not be swept away by the tides of schedules and Christmas demands during Advent. Like any baby, Jesus is coming whether we are ready or not. He will be born in our hearts without an Advent wreath, a Jesse Tree or Pinterest-worthy cookies. Grinches aside, Jesus will come without ribbons or tags, packages, boxes or bags. He comes if we are traveling, grieving, separated from loved ones or too busy to welcome him. Our loving God desires to give Jesus to our weary world. All we have to do is choose to receive him.
Are you willing to stop, drop and receive?
Give yourself permission to stop
We often look to the trimmings of the season to determine our successful celebration. It’s as though the prettiest tree and the most beautiful table will show the world and God that we are ready. Even with the best intentions, if these rituals add to a never-ending to-do list that keeps us from stillness with the Lord, they are but distractions.
Jesus was born in a cave because the world he was coming for was too busy with the business of a census. He came, and how many missed it? But how good it was for those who were prepared to receive him!
Stop for just a moment, right now, and think about what would really happen if there was nothing ready for Christmas this year except your heart. Is it possible that the less that is ready, the more God can fill? This may feel strange, but perhaps the emptiness will leave you craving something more just when God is getting ready to give you the most.
Give yourself permission to drop something
Fold your hands. Now separate your hands and turn your palms upward. There is a difference between hands that are folded, closed or holding something and hands that are open. Hands that are open are prepared to receive. Hands that are full or clenched are not.
A few years ago, I started choosing one seasonal preparation to let go of each year. I fasted from something in my seasonal preparations to make more room for Jesus. Can you? So often we see Lent as the time for giving something up to focus more fully on Jesus, but Advent is a little Lent for us too — remember the purple color?
It’s an opportunity to let go of something, even something good, to prepare to receive a Savior that is even better. It’s okay to miss something, to long for something and to teach our children to do the same. It’s not skipping traditions, but selecting the most important ones — better than anything Amazon, Hallmark and Mariah Carey can offer.
What if you skipped the Christmas cards this year and instead received the ultimate Christmas card by reading the weekend Scriptures an extra time? What if you skipped a side-dish or two and instead joined more fully in the feast of heaven at Mass?
Receive him
If you work on the silence, emptiness, and openness of stopping and dropping, God can prepare your soul to receive the fullness of Jesus.
Practically, God enters our hearts and minds best through holy Scripture. God’s Word teaches us our story. I invite you to use lectio and visio divina, one of Bishop David Ricken’s Five Alive practices, to read and pray with the weekend Scriptures this Advent. Do it when you can — on Saturday mornings with pancakes, in the pick-up line, in the waiting room, between basketball or soccer games, on the way to holiday family events. Do it with whomever you can — one child, two, your spouse, yourself — just do it.
This practice of being with Scripture helps our human senses connect with God’s promises in a tangible way. If you scan the QR code below or visit onmiss.io/adventdare, you will find a booklet of the weekend readings,
the lectio divina process and much more.
While the Word teaches us our story, the sacraments make it possible to continue living our part in the Gospel story. Please join a community for Masses this Advent and be nourished by the Eucharist. Receive the sacrament of God’s love and mercy in Confession. Bring your emptiness, your Advent longing, your thanksgiving before him. All you have to do is come. Our priests and communities are committed to praying the Mass with you. What better way to open our hearts to receive Jesus than to give thanks as he instructed us? “Do this in memory of me.”
Jesus is coming, and he is already here. It is a mystery of our faith and of Advent. Are you willing to stop, drop and receive? Your heart already knows how. A life with Jesus is perhaps the only dare that asks you to slow down and promises you only the best in return. Prepare your heart for Jesus — I triple-dog dare you!