5 Ways to Live Advent Well

From prayer to ‘The Chosen,’ best wishes for a blessed season.

Advent prepares our hearts for Christmas.
Advent prepares our hearts for Christmas. (photo: Grant Whitty / Unsplash)

Advent has arrived. Amid the Christmas preparations, we must strive to take time to slow down and reflect on and prepare for Who is to come: Hope.

Here are a few ideas to help you live well this holy season ahead of the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord.

Pray deeply.

Open your Bible.

Reflect on the holy wisdom of the saints. 

Seek out prayer-focused resources like the Register’s “Lectio Divina for Advent and the Blessings of a Holy Hour 2021.”

Go to Mass and confession. During ongoing COVID times, Catholics are getting back to the pews. The Register’s annual guide can help you as you reconnect with the liturgy and sacramental grace in person.

Listen to the Lord in prayer, Scripture and the Mass, as well as via Advent carols like O Come, O Come, Emmanuel 

and my personal favorite: 

O come, Divine Messiah, the world in silence waits the day, when hope shall sing its triumph, and sadness flee away.”

Watch something hopeful. The Chosen series premiered a new theatrical episode Dec. 1, Christmas With The Chosen: The Messengers, telling the story of the Nativity, along with Christmas carols and songs by various musicians, including Catholic singer-songwriter Matt Maher.

Most of all, wait in wonder. 

Advent is synonymous with hope,” exhorted Pope St. John Paul II. We await the Christ Child, the best gift of all.

Indeed!

As I note in my own book,  As a child, I looked forward to the appearance of my family’s Advent calendar on the first day of December (our calendar was like many others, which help children count down all of the days of the month until Christmas). I loved adding the felt pieces that adhered to the calendar with Velcro each day as Jesus’ birthday approached. It remains part of my preparations to this day. We need to ready ourselves in the midst of life for the arrival of Love, who is the best present there is.”  

Advent blessings!