Decking the Interior Halls

Thanksgiving is past, and now, even the most conservative of vendors have decked their halls, doors, and bags with red, green, holly, snowmen, and Jolly Santas. Christmas songs will fill the air on radios, in stores, and in homes. We look forward now to Christmas.

But before we get to Christmas, we must journey through Advent, that time of preparation, that time of anticipation. This is the pregnancy before the birth, the quiet before the storm, the shy courtship before the wedding. It is a time of self reflection, of introspection, of getting house, home, and soul ready for the coming of a Glorious Guest.

In most households, this change in seasons means people will begin shopping in earnest (or begin shopping period), tickets will be booked, plans will be solidified, fudge will be made, advent wreaths, candles, Christmas lights, and toy soldiers will be laid out. And so, we will whittle away this beautiful season, replacing the peace it is meant to bring with the chaos of preparation. We focus on the external aspects that we often forget the interior.

Advent is not just the countdown to Christmas. It is the time to prepare. When Christ came, He did not just appear. No, He spent nine months in quiet preparation, nine months quiet, peacefully existing inside the womb of His Blessed Mother. Advent is our participation in this time where God fashioned for Himself an earthly form, where He dwelt in perfect communion with His mother. It is the period where the Jewish nation held their breath, waiting for the Messiah, looking for Him, waiting, some more alertly than others.

We await the coming of our King: We wait to celebrate His Birth, eternity becoming part of time as a humble child. We wait for His glorious second coming, where He shall call us to Him as the glorious bridegroom beckoning His Bride. And we  wait for Him to enter our lives each and every week - or day! - in the Holy Eucharist.

Are we the Pharisees, focused on the external trappings, more worried about Decking the Halls than preparing our souls for the Majesty of the King? Or are we the Magi, who see the signs, who read them written in creation itself, and hurry to the King, bringing what gifts we may?

Let's focus this year on not just Decking the Halls of our homes and workplaces. But let us also Deck the Halls of our Hearts and minds, preparing ourselves to receive the Baby Jesus, our Redeemer and Friend.

"Advent is here. What a marvelous time in which to renew your desire, your nostalgia, your real longing for Christ to come — for him to come every day to your soul in the Eucharist. The Church encourages us: Ecce veniet! — He is about to arrive!" --Josemaria Escriva