Happy Advent!

I hope everyone's Advent is going well! I had a few (well, technically two) thoughts and reflections today during our monthly Parish Catechesis.

Advent, is a time of waiting for the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ - not only in the sense of commemoration of His physical birth on Earth in Bethlehem, but also symbolically of his Second Coming. Thus, it is a time of anxiety, of restlessness, of awaiting hope to come.

I feel that the Advent Wreath does a very good job of personifying this in the candles we light each week. Slowly the darkness peels away, until the crescendo builds to Christmas Day, when our Lord and Savior was born.







My second thought was regarding the Blessed Virgin Mary. Today, we were read the Nativity Story, and told to attempt to personify ourselves as something present (I chose the perspective of the straw in the barn - but that's irrelevant). Our priest was remarking how all mothers could identify with Mary as a mother. This got me thinking about the anxiety our Blessed Mother must have felt throughout her pregnancy! I began to reflect on my own anxiety when preparing for my first baby - all of the shopping, decorating, and doctor appointments. However, I did not have to even consider, or try to understand, that I would be giving birth to the Savior of the World! How brave Mary was, and how much strength she must have embodied. Can you imagine if you were told that the child in your womb was destined to be the President of the United States? Now consider the task and responsibility of Mary the Mother of God!

Oh Blessed Mother Mary, pray for us.