{"id":181178,"date":"2015-12-02T07:30:16","date_gmt":"2015-12-02T13:30:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.austincnm.com\/?p=181178"},"modified":"2015-12-02T00:16:17","modified_gmt":"2015-12-02T06:16:17","slug":"in-the-spirit-of-advent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/12\/in-the-spirit-of-advent\/","title":{"rendered":"In the Spirit of Advent"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Advent-CCFM\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Every year during Advent, the Johnson clan leads a church-wide food drive.\u00a0 We ask our church community to draw a family from our sister parish in downtown Houston and pray for them, give them boxes of food, and maybe get them a present or two.\u00a0 Then two Uhauls get filled up with boxes and we take them to the families in Houston.\u00a0 Seeing families without the material things I have is such a humbling experience for me. When the parents and children walk into this gym with all the boxes, their faces light up like mine used to when I ran down the stairs and saw the Christmas tree surrounded by presents. This kind of experience gives me perspective and shows how I really don’t need that much for Christmas.\u00a0 One of the best Christmases I’ve ever celebrated was a few years ago when there were no presents under the tree.<\/p>\n

That year our family wasn\u2019t able to gather on Christmas day, so we decided to push back the gifts until later on. When I woke up on that Christmas Day, I was still filled with such great joy, even though I knew there weren\u2019t going to be presents under the tree. All I needed was to see that little baby Jesus in the manger, and that\u2019s exactly what happened. Jesus was born on that day many many years ago, and for the entire day I reflected on the meaning of Christ’s birth, and I did so without any distractions.<\/p>\n

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Prepare this Advent to receive Christ as though He were coming for the first time.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is exactly what Advent is for. Advent is for warming our hearts and preparing for the Savior of the world to dwell in it. Our heart is his manger, and we are to prepare for the coming of Jesus. As Mother Teresa said, \u201cAt this Christmas when Christ comes, will He find a warm heart? Mark the season of Advent by loving and serving the others with God’s own love and concern.\u201d<\/p>\n

Preparing anything takes time. As we just found out from Thanksgiving, turkey takes a LONG time to prepare. Imagine how long it takes to prepare a heart for a King.\u00a0What are some practical ways to prepare for Christmas? Some practical tips for this Advent season:<\/p>\n