Today is the first Sunday of Advent

[Bill_Buck]

“Today is the first Sunday of Advent, so be very good.” Those were the first words of my eight-year-old son said this morning. I asked him why. “Because we are near Christmas” he answered. After some probing questions I found his main concern was for the gifts that Santa brings and that Christmas was Jesus’ birthday. My son’s words seem more prophetic to me than they do to him. Today is the first Sunday of Advent. Today we are one day closer to the return of Jesus, who brings us the gift of eternal life. Today Christ is near. Today I’ll be “very good”, so help me God.

 

[Teresa9]

Dear Bill Buck

Thank you for your lovely post, I enjoyed reading it, it is very touching how you and your son are sharing your faith, he’s a child so I suppose you have to let him off a little bit for the present bit

What you wrote led me to think that each day we should start with the prayer ‘Lord help me to be good’ . Each day we should pray that the Holy Spirit will guide us and lead us to be more Christ-like and this should be echoed as well in frequent receipt of the sacraments which also give us graces to be more Christ-like and frequent daily private prayer life, where life itself becomes prayer.

It is in the big feasts of the Church’s year that these things become more apparent to us, at Christmas and more so at Easter. We should keep the joys of Christ Jesus’ birth, death and ressurection in our hearts daily and remember it daily, by prayer and thanksgiving everyday and asking Him to help us become more like Him. In celebrating Mass which is the biggest prayer of the Church we are called to remember, receive graces and give thanksgiving, as we all know the word Eucharist means thanksgiving. In Eucharistic Adoration we echo the adoration of the Shepherds, Wisemen and Mary and Joseph.

The greatest prayer anyone can say, is ’ I am a sinner, Lord help me to be good as you and strengthen my faith to help me to do this.’

God Bless you and much love and peace to you

Teresa

 

[jrabs]

Bill Buck,
You sound like a great father - to be rasing a child so in tune with the season is a great testimony to your faith and job as a parent.

God bless you in this season.

I will be lighting the Advent wreath tonight with my sons, and will say a prayer for your family and especially that more parents will take this season to impart the faith to their children as you have so successfully done!

 

[JCPhoenix]

That is so sweet!

I grew up with an advent wreath nearly every year…and some years we “had” to pray prior to eating, go through the candle-lighting ceremony as my Mom read from a little book. (I have not been able to find anything that mimics this).

I hope your son, unlike my brother and I, learns to grow up loving these beautiful traditions and devotions we have for each liturgical season.

Incidentally, now that I have returned fully to the Church, I also have advent candles…but no wreath (I couldn’t afford the ones at the gift shop). So right now my purple advent candle is lit in front of my crucifix near the artificial evergreen bough I have. I guess sometimes we just have to make do with what we have.

Does anyone know where one can download the actual “candle-lighting” prayers? I do have an advent book…but it doesn’t start until December 1.

I really pray that you and your son both grow in lasting faith as you experience this blessed advent season in anticipation of Christ’s arrival. God Bless!

 

[Teresa9]

JCPhoenix:

That is so sweet!

I grew up with an advent wreath nearly every year…and some years we “had” to pray prior to eating, go through the candle-lighting ceremony as my Mom read from a little book. (I have not been able to find anything that mimics this).

I hope your son, unlike my brother and I, learns to grow up loving these beautiful traditions and devotions we have for each liturgical season.

Incidentally, now that I have returned fully to the Church, I also have advent candles…but no wreath (I couldn’t afford the ones at the gift shop). So right now my purple advent candle is lit in front of my crucifix near the artificial evergreen bough I have. I guess sometimes we just have to make do with what we have.

Does anyone know where one can download the actual “candle-lighting” prayers? I do have an advent book…but it doesn’t start until December 1.

I really pray that you and your son both grow in lasting faith as you experience this blessed advent season in anticipation of Christ’s arrival. God Bless!

Dear friend

What you have is by the grace of God and pure gift and therefore it is beautiful to Him and more than good enough for Him, what He sees and loves is what is in your heart and it was in your heart to make this devotion to Him, that is what He loves and rewards. Remember the widow’s mite in Sacred Scripture, she gave what others thought was little, but what she gave was all she had and her gift was the greater! Remember the tenants in the Vineyard parable in Sacred Scripture, we are each entrusted with gifts, possessions, and talents, it is what we do with what we are gifted with by God and it is if we are the good tenant that matters, not what we have, but what we do with it and with what we have we are to reap in the Lord’s Vineyard and yield much fruit for Him.

Everyone who comes into your home will see your devotion and it may just make them think or inspire them to something similar, through this fruit will be yielded for God, just as the gentleman who posted this thread was inspired by his son and this little boy has made us all think. I thought your devotion was beautiful

God Bless you and much love and peace to you

Teresa