We’re barreling headlong into what should be a very holy and peace filled season. Instead, however, most Christians go into hyper-drive, like everyone else, starting with Thanksgiving preparations, then we jump to black Friday deals (on Thanksgiving evening) and then blast right to and through Christmas ending up exhausted without ever thinking about or acknowledging the season of Advent. The Advent Season encompasses the four Sundays before Christmas and it starts this Sunday, November 27th. It’s just around the corner so it’s not too late to work on having a truly peace-filled and joyous holiday (Holy Day) season.
So, have yourself an intentional little Christmas.
Make this the year that you replace rampant consumerism with peace and joy. Make that happen for you and your families by being intentional over these next weeks by keeping Christ in the center of each day, and in the weeks to come so you can enjoy and comprehend the meaning and beauty of Advent and Christmas and to share that peace and joy with others who might be struggling in their lives in some way.
Here’s how to do this. Schedule a few minutes (can you commit to just 5 minutes?) each morning during the entirety of Advent (starting Sunday, Nov 27 through Dec 24) so you can read, ponder and focus on the real reason for the Christmas season. Be intentional – put it in your calendar – whether that is your phone, Google, paper on the wall – whatever you need to remember to actually do it!
Remember these following events – – – –
The Annunciation –
Location: Nazareth. Nazareth was about a five day’s walk from Jerusalem, Mary’s birthplace (near the Lion’s Gate of the Old City). No one knows how Mary’s family ended up in Nazareth from Jerusalem. I have to assume Sts. Joachim and Anne moved there for work just like we do today.
Luke 1:26-38. In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,* and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom, there will be no end.” But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be since I have no relations with a man?” And the angel said to her in reply, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived* a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.”Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.
The Visitation –
Location: Ein Kerem (Karem), Jerusalem (western suburbs).
Perspective: Ein Kerem, where Elizabeth and Zechariah lived, was about 80 miles south, southwest of Nazareth or about five to six days walk. Our Blessed Mother journeyed through Galilee, Samaria, the Jordan River Valley, and finally through the hills of Judea to visit her cousin. Most people, like myself, ignore the details about this trip as written by Luke. When he says hill country – as you get closer to Jerusalem – he means thigh aching hilly!
Luke 1: 39-45 During those days Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord* should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed* that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”
The Birth of our Lord –
Location: Bethlehem.
Perspective: I was surprised at how physically close Bethlehem was to Jerusalem. The cities are about 4.5 miles apart. Bethlehem could (and still can) be seen across a valley south of the city of Jerusalem. Mary and Joseph had to walk down from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the census – taxes were as big then as they are now! The walk took them at least 6 days considering Mary was in her third trimester and the roads leading to and through Jerusalem were probably clogged with other travelers.
Luke 2: 1- 7 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment when Quirinius was governor of Syria. So all went to be enrolled, each to his own town. And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.”
Shepherd’s Fields –
Location: Beit Sahour is now a Palestinian town east of Bethlehem. The shepherds mentioned by Luke were just a hill away from the Nativity in Bethlehem- a mere 1.5 miles away to the northwest of their fields. Yes, they could easily see the town of Bethlehem from their fields.
Luke 2: 8-14 Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields and keeping the night watch over their flock. The angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were struck with great fear. The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David, a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
The Presentation in the Temple –
Location: Jerusalem. Jerusalem was built and sacked and rebuilt countless times over the centuries. The lower steps in the photo are original (where the guy in blue is standing). These are the steps that the Holy Family used for the presentation.
Luke 2: 21-24 When eight days were completed for his circumcision, he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. When the days were completed for their purification* according to the law of Moses, they took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, just as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord,” and to offer the sacrifice of “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons,” in accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord.
