I love this time of year. It always reminds me of a particular childhood memory:
When I was growing up and attending St. Matthew Elementary, one of my schoolmates’ dads cut, sanded, and stained a little wooden manger for every child in our grade. The teachers handed them out in time for the First Sunday of Advent. We were then given an envelope filled with straw and a pretty little plastic Baby Jesus figurine—complete with a golden halo on His head. All of us were told to do nice things throughout Advent (like helping with the dishes without being asked or taking extra time to pray), and each time we did, we could place a single piece of straw in the manger. We all hoped to do so many good deeds that the manger would be full and Jesus would have a nice, soft bed to lie upon when we added Him to our crèche on Christmas morning.
Our Second Reading (Romans 13:11–14) and Gospel (Matthew 24:37–44) are all about staying awake and being prepared. In Romans, for example, we hear that we are to “awake from sleep,” “throw off the works of darkness,” and “put on the armor of light.” In our First Reading, Isaiah (2:1–5) further instructs us to prepare so we can “walk in the light of the Lord!” The ears of my childhood would hear something like, “Now is the time to get ready for Jesus. He is coming.”
This Sunday, you are each being given an Advent Action Book. In a way, it is much like the manger of my childhood. In this book, you’ll find different actions that you can do to prepare your heart for the coming of Jesus, whether it be to commemorate His birth on Christmas Day or for when He comes again! I encourage you to take your book home and choose a few things to do each week. When you complete an action, fill out the coupon, tear it out, and return it to the church the following weekend. Throughout Advent, we’ll display our returned coupons to encourage one another and help us all prepare for Christ. He is coming.
