Ad·vent:  the arrival of a notable person, thing, or event.

Can you guys think of literally anyone more notable than Jesus?  I sure can’t so let’s talk about how we’re preparing for Him to come this Advent season.   

I think most of you guys know that I found out I had cancer in June of 2021.  Let me tell you that is something you are NEVER prepared for.  I didn’t want it to come to me, I wasn’t ready for it to come to me, and I cannot wait until it hopefully leaves me!  I’m waiting and waiting, and at every check up I’ve had since my treatment ended, the docs keep telling me I have to keep waiting for an unspecified amount of time – they don’t know when my wait will be over.  The only preparation I could do was to steel myself to get through the 3 chemo treatments and the 28 radiation treatments.

So now let’s talk about ADVENT and a whole different kind of waiting and preparation.  We know who is coming to us, and we definitely want Him to…..it’s Jesus!  We might not know the day of His second coming, but we DO know the day we celebrate His arrival into our hearts and lives each year – it’s Christmas Eve. 

 From the beginning of Advent to its end, we have 4 weeks every single year to take a pause in our lives that get too busy to focus on preparing for Jesus and getting our hearts, minds and lives ready to welcome Him back into our lives with the priority that He deserves.  

We start on the First Sunday of Advent with our preparations, and then, we wait!  But, this waiting has a start and a stop point. This waiting is good for us and has a great purpose for our lives. 

I think everyone in this building knows at this point that I love to bake!  I bake all the time and for ANY reason or occasion.  I bake when I’m happy, when I’m sad, when I’m mad, when I’m stressed, and when I’m blessed.  Why do I share this with you?  Because I also bake when I’m waiting for someone or something.  The time and the tasks involved in baking up a favorite item, like my chocolate chip cookie cake puts my mind at ease and gives me time to think and plan and ponder.   If you want to see what I’m talking about, give it a try!  Make my cookie cake yourself in your own kitchen over break.  Here’s the recipe:

2 sticks of butter, softened

¾ cup of granulated sugar

¾ cup of brown sugar, packed

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 ¼ cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

Grease a 9×13 baking pan and preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Cream together the butter and sugars

Add the eggs and vanilla and mix again

Add the flour, baking soda, salt, and chips and mix again

Transfer to the baking pan and press flat and even to all edges

Bake uncovered for 20 minutes

Cover with foil, turn the oven off, and bake another 5 minutes

Place on a cooling rack, still covered with the foil and you’ll have a soft cookie every time!

Enjoy!

In addition to baking,  I’ve also got a little Advent book that they gave us at St. Peter Chanel called Journey To The Manger.  They still have free copies if you guys don’t have a plan of your own already.  It is packed full of resources and ideas on things to do or read or reflect on every single day of our Advent waiting and preparation.  

What about you?  Do you have a plan for your 4 weeks of waiting and preparation?  If you do, that’s fantastic, and I’m super proud of you – stick with it and you’ll see…..the results will speak for themselves.

If you don’t have any idea at all what you are going to do or maybe haven’t even given it a thought yet about doing anything, it’s not too late to start – it never is when it comes to Jesus.  

This time of year, every year, gets beyond busy and stressful because unfortunately, we don’t get to just do Advent – we have final exams and decorating and shopping and on and on.  All of those things and more affect all of us, but it’s how we respond to them that really matters.  

So how will YOU wait?  Give it some thought, and see what you come up with.  I’m going to choose to wait in peace, not anxiety.  I’m going to focus on spending more time with Jesus and getting closer to Jesus in ways that I can like going to Adoration and confession, praying the rosary and attending Mass.  I’m going to find ways to love my family better and to be more present since I now recognize maybe more than I ever have before how precious time is AND that we never know how much we have so we better spend it well!  

My wish and prayer for every one of you is that you don’t let this Advent season pass without making a conscious effort to move yourself closer to Jesus.  He can work with any little bit that we give Him so give Him whatever you have to give right now – be that big or small efforts.  

Happy Advent – Come Lord Jesus Come!