{"id":63509,"date":"2014-11-27T07:30:24","date_gmt":"2014-11-27T13:30:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.austincnm.com\/?p=63509"},"modified":"2014-11-28T21:12:33","modified_gmt":"2014-11-29T03:12:33","slug":"challenge-advent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2014\/11\/challenge-advent\/","title":{"rendered":"The Challenge of Advent"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The<\/a>

The Advent Challenge
Photo by Rita Suva<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cJesus said to his disciples: \u2018Be watchful! Be alert!\u2026\u2019 \u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Advent is a challenging time for Catholics. With the exception of Mass, it\u2019s easy to let Advent be consumed and overshadowed in our daily lives, as society pushes Halloween into Christmas with a small glint of Thanksgiving thrown in.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026.You do not know when the time will come. It is like a man traveling abroad. He leaves home and places his servants in charge, each with his own work, and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I walked into HEB (a local grocery store) on Halloween and the Christmas candy was on the shelves, unopened but ready for the moment the clock struck 12:01am on November 1. We\u2019ve been\u00a0inundated with Christmas ads, Christmas decorations, Christmas music\u2026 and the list goes on and on since Halloween. Many times these things are a distraction, though sometimes these things can be good and help us prepare for Advent, if we allow them to. They can\u00a0help us watch for the Lord. They can make us aware of Christ\u2019s coming and perk up our senses to being aware of God\u2019s presence and the birth of our Savior.<\/p>\n

\u201cWatch, therefore; you do not know when the Lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

But often being inundated with so much Christmas ads, decorations, musics, it distract us from the beauty of the Season of Advent. Advent, the beautiful Season of Preparation for Salvation born to for us on Christmas day. We often begin Advent hopeful of all the things we\u2019ll do to prepare for Christmas, both in the home and spiritually. But then the monster that is secular Christmas Season encroaches on our plans. We get tired of hearing the Christmas music. We become exhausted by how \u201cperfect\u201d our house must look as we decorate for Christmas. We feel\u00a0both\u00a0financially-strapped and time-strapped, as we search for presents for family members and friends. Resulting in the hope, peace and joy in our Advent preparation for Christmas being drown out.<\/p>\n

“May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to all: \u2018Watch!\u2019\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

In an effort to help us watch and prepare for Christmas day, our Austin CNM Advent Challenge is back. As in year’s past, each blogger will provide daily challenges along with their blog post, denoted\u00a0with our Advent candle graphic. You’ll find ideas that are practical, spiritual, charitable and more. So don’t be caught sleeping! Watch! And prepare.<\/p>\n

\"advent<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Pre-Advent Challenge
\n<\/strong>Prepare for Advent, which is around the corner and starts THIS Sunday, November 30 (3 days away)! Make a plan for the Season of Preparation of Salvation born on Christmas day. Consider an extra morning or evening prayer, give\u00a0something up, perform\u00a0daily charitable acts, read\u00a0a book throughout the Advent Season, give yourself 5 minutes of quiet reflection time a day… whatever will stick with you through the busy season and help you stay focuses on the Advent season and watch for the Christmas season.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cJesus said to his disciples: \u2018Be watchful! Be alert!\u2026\u2019 \u201d Advent is a challenging time for Catholics. With the exception of Mass, it\u2019s easy to let Advent be consumed and overshadowed in our daily lives, as society pushes Halloween into Christmas with a small glint of Thanksgiving thrown in. \u201c\u2026.You do not know when the… [Read More]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[2396,384,1214,85,1448,2581,55,417,383,2579,37,1139,330,2580,133,2578,704,397,2577],"class_list":{"0":"post-63509","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-blog","7":"tag-2396","8":"tag-advent","9":"tag-advent-challenge","10":"tag-austin","11":"tag-austin-diocese","12":"tag-candy","13":"tag-catholic-2","14":"tag-christ","15":"tag-christmas","16":"tag-first-week-of-advent","17":"tag-gospel","18":"tag-halloween","19":"tag-jesus","20":"tag-perfect","21":"tag-preparation","22":"tag-prepare","23":"tag-salvation","24":"tag-thanksgiving","25":"tag-watch","26":"entry","27":"has-post-thumbnail"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":42623,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2013\/12\/beginning-advent-with-a-challenge\/","url_meta":{"origin":63509,"position":0},"title":"Beginning Advent With A Challenge","author":"Elizabeth","date":"December 2, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"This year, the number of days in this holiday season are the shortest it possibly can be. 27 days. Just 27 days separate Thanksgiving and Christmas. Perhaps, As a result this begins to explain how and why retailers have combated the unusually short shopping window by putting out Christmas merchandise\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Advent","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/ACNM-Advent1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":27248,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2012\/12\/what-should-we-call-it-catholic-gifs-and-advent-challenges\/","url_meta":{"origin":63509,"position":1},"title":"What Should We Call It? Catholic GIFS and Advent Challenges","author":"Elizabeth","date":"December 3, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I believe that sometimes you just have to be a little bit silly. There are a ton of these things on the Internet called gifs, so here I present to you a fun little set of Catholic themed gifs. \u00a0 \u00a0 My friends and I when it comes time to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/tumblr_lxeyydq3Mm1qe46ij.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":68588,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2014\/12\/holidays-sad\/","url_meta":{"origin":63509,"position":2},"title":"When Holidays Are Sad","author":"Rita Suva","date":"December 11, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Even though Christmas is \u201cthe most wonderful time of the year\u201d and the world seems awash with cheerfulness, color and lights, the holidays can be sad for some. It\u2019s sad for some because of the death of a loved one or because it can be a reminder of the broken\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"When Holidays Are Sad","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/sad_holiday2.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":65535,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2014\/12\/faces-show-the-struggles-of-advent\/","url_meta":{"origin":63509,"position":3},"title":"12 Faces that Show the Struggles of Advent","author":"Crist\u00f3bal Almanza Herrera","date":"December 3, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"We often take ourselves too seriously, especially when it comes to the pursuit of holiness. Too often do I come across misconceptions about the many limitations and boxes people confine their notions of what saintliness can or should look like. I often think it\u2019s because of the misunderstanding of what\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Faith"","block_context":{"text":"Faith","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/faith-blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"12 Faces that Show the Struggles of Advent","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/12FacesthatShowtheStrugglesofAdvent-550x366.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/12FacesthatShowtheStrugglesofAdvent-550x366.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/12FacesthatShowtheStrugglesofAdvent-550x366.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":27834,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2012\/12\/he-humbled-himself\/","url_meta":{"origin":63509,"position":4},"title":"He humbled Himself","author":"Rachel","date":"December 6, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"As soon as Thanksgiving ends and the consumer world starts promoting and selling Christmas in earnest, I feel like I immediately start to hear from the Catholic media sphere the repeated mantra warning us against the spirit of\u00a0materialism:\u00a0Focus on the reason for the season, don't get stressed out over Christmas\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/03e1508e3f6911e2876222000a1fbcf1_6.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":64681,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2014\/12\/advent-mission\/","url_meta":{"origin":63509,"position":5},"title":"The Advent of Our Mission","author":"Rachel","date":"December 1, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I spent this Thanksgiving looking into our country from the outside, since right now I'm doing a bit of traveling \u00a0in South America. So naturally, I had to explain to lots of curious friends and strangers what exactly we were celebrating last Thursday. And being the typical American that I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"IMG_6096_2","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/IMG_6096_2-550x309.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/IMG_6096_2-550x309.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/IMG_6096_2-550x309.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63509"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63509\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}