Anyway, advent is a time of reflection and preparation. I remember when I was little, I had a subscription to this Kid's magazine called "K4J" which stands for "Kids for Jesus". I love that magazine. They always sent an activity for the month. One month they sent out a Hebrew alphabet decoder. That was pretty cool, but now I'm off topic. Anyway, For advent one year, or maybe several years, they sent out a little manger. You had to pop it out of the card stock/paper that it was made of and food it into the manger shape (which was more or less just a box without a lid in this case) and then it gave direction on how to use it.
So what did you do with the little paper manger? Well, you made a bed for Jesus by filling it with little prices of paper hay! But you didn't just go around filling it up at any time. You had to earn each piece of hay. Whenever you did something nice, you would put a piece of hay in the manger. The goal was, of course to encourage kids to do good and remember The true meaning of Christmas, while having fun and trying to fill up the manger by Christmas!
While we may not be able to make a little manger out of paper and fill it with paper hay, what a good idea it is to make some sort of resolution for advent. After all, the first week of advent is when the Catholic Calendar starts, so it's like Catholic new year! We can still celebrate the classic New Years too, so we get two New Years…… but people make "resolutions" for the regular new year, why not the Church new year?
I admit, I'm not too good at resolutions. I either don't do them (which is a common problem) or i get so wrapped up in them that they become part of my OCD and continue for who know how long or else…… can you say anxiety fest!?
But for this advent I'm tryin to do something more irregular, so that my OCD has a harder time of taking control of it. I'm trying to do something more like the "Manger game" and do a random nice thing, an extra prayer or reflection, or somehow give of myself each day. If i forget a day, I'll try again the next day. If i do more than one in a day, woohoo!
If you want to do something like this too, it's really easy. I'll give you a few ideas, and you can do whatever you want with them. You can make them a habit, or they could give you ideas for random good deeds.
•Read the Bible. Even just a chapter or page, or 15 minutes a day. If there is something you don't understand, which there probably will be at some point, just ask someone who might know it better. It could be a friendship builder in that way.
• say some extra prayers. If you don't say the Rosary every day, do it! Of you don't say h Divine mercy chaplet every day, you could do that too! You could even start partying parts of the Divine Office (also called the breviary or liturgy of the Hours) such as Lauds or compline.
•write a note to someone, highlighting their positive qualities. You don't have to write your name on it if you don't want to.
•do the grocery shopping or bills for your spouse
•take out the trash or do the dishes for your mom or dad
•refrain from negative responses in a conversation turned sour. Take a deep breath, and tell the person that you are getting a bit upset and if needed, take a break. That's a lot better than losing your temper.
• find an Advent reflection booklet and read a little each day. We found one for free in the back of our Church, so you might try checking there first.
•Go to Mass on a day that you don't have to. (In addition to the days that you do have to, such as Holy day of Obligation and Sundays!!)
•Write a short poem or draw/sketch/paint/anything something pertaining to Jesus' birth, Mary's meek response to God's call, the shepherds and Angels, or the star.
•sing in Church of you don't already. Even if you sound terrible, Sing! You are not there to sing for the people, if they don't like your voice, that's thier problem. You are there to Worship the one who created you, and he also created your voice.
•cook a meal for your family
•help out at a food bank or soup kitchen
•find a way that you could help with something at your Church. Do they need sacristans? Servers? Choir people? Gardeners? Maintenance help? Youth ministers? Sunday school teachers? Greeters? Lectors? Financial support? Prayers?
•take a walk and breath the crisp air of winter. Thank God that you at alive and notice his creations. Even the teeny tiny ones, which are some of my favorites.
•say at least one nice thing to a person that either you don't get along with, or that doesn't like you.
•donate something to charity
•give up socks for a day
•send a real card in the mail to someone you haven't talked to in a while. Be sure to write God Bless You or sow thing to that extent on it so where where they can see it.
•think about God. Think about how Jesus humbled himself to come down to us in the form of a tiny little baby, be born in a stable, and lay down in a manger, which is a place where they put hay for the animals to eat by the way! The King of Kings chose to be born in a poor, lowly, stable! And lay in a food dish for animals! Ponder that. Dwell on it. Think about it often.
Any little thing you do can be a piece of hay for the manger if you offer it to God. Whether you enjoy it or not.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.