The Gifts of Advent

IT IS HARD to curb children's excitement about Christmas, and difficult to stop them from getting caught up in the more commercial aspects of the holiday, but they should be told that there is another important season to celebrate first: Advent.

Beginning of liturgical year

The liturgical season of Advent begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas, and continues until Christmas Eve. In 2005, with Christmas Day being on a Sunday, the season of Advent will be a particularly long one, starting Sunday, November 27, and ending on Saturday, December 24.
In the Roman Catholic Church, the season of Advent marks the beginning of what is called the liturgical year. When the Church celebrates the liturgy of Advent each year, she makes present this ancient expectancy of the Messiah, for by sharing in the long preparation for the Saviour's first coming, the faithful renew their ardent desire for His second coming. By celebrating (John the Baptist's) birth and martyrdom, the Church unites herself to (John's) desire: 'He must increase, but I must decrease.'
For this reason the Church, especially during Advent and Lent and above all at the Easter Vigil, re-reads and re-lives the great events of salvation history in the 'today' of her liturgy. But this also demands that catechesis help the faithful to open themselves to this spiritual understanding of the economy of salvation as the Church's liturgy reveals it and enables us to live it (Numbers 524 and 1095, Catechism of the Catholic Church).

Symbols & traditions

The seasons of Advent and of Christmas are rich in symbols and traditions, and Advent provides young and old alike with an opportunity to experience these first hand, and to deepen their personal understanding of these celebrations.
The Advent Wreath, for example, is a symbol that even very young children can understand. A family wreath can be elaborate or very simple, and parents can choose to emphasize certain aspects of the wreath's significance, while leaving other aspects to develop further at some point in the future.
In researching Advent celebrations for children, I discovered two interesting websites that were particularly useful in this respect. Obviously, it is also possible to buy books on this subject or to borrow them through one's local library.
The website located at http://www.cptryon.org/prayer/child/adv.html is administered by the Passionist Missionaries, with prayers and text by Father Victor Hoagland.
This Passionist site is devoted to helping children learn how to pray. Few times are more sacred for a family or household than Christmas, writes Fr. Hoagland. Along with the Advent Season, Christmas time is rich in traditions which, despite modern commercial exploitation, still stir our hearts and imagination. The Christmas tree, the manger scene, the music and carols, the lights shining in the winter darkness, joyfully proclaim the birth of Jesus Christ and call us to come and adore him. Christmas and Advent can be a spiritual feast for those who live these seasons spiritually. And where better to live them spiritually than in our own homes and households?
By providing information on the Advent Wreath, the Nativity scene, family prayers for each week of Advent and even cookie recipes, Fr. Hoagland and the Passionists offer age-appropriate and simple ways of celebrating Advent and Christmas.
They also suggest doing such things as celebrating the Feast of Saint Nicholas on December 6 in order to reclaim the spiritual aspects of commercialized symbols such as Santa Claus. Furthermore, they also emphasize the links between our ancient faith and the current reality:
In a world where nature and our environment are threatened, let us make our Christmas tree and manger scene reminders of the beauty and sacredness of nature. How closely at His coming did Jesus bind Himself to the animals of the field, as well as to the earth and the open sky!
Remembering the poor shepherds and the circumstances of Christ's birth, so marked by poverty, let us make them reminders of the forgotten poor of our world.
Let the Child and Joseph and Mary teach us the dignity and importance of children and families in a society so neglectful of them.
The Christmas season's rich traditions come from peoples throughout the world, from Spain, South America, Eastern Europe, and so many other places. Let them remind us of the unity of all people as children of God.

Stress on meaning

Another website that offers parents different ideas about celebrating Advent with children can be found at http://www.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/Advent/. This website is sponsored by Creighton University, a Catholic Jesuit University that was founded in 1878 and is located in Omaha, Nebraska.
The first and most important thing we can do to prepare our children for Advent is to prepare ourselves first. After all, if we are impatient and crabby - pressured by all the busyness of this season - we won't be very good at teaching our children anything about quiet, expectant waiting. If they never hear us talk about what we long for from the Lord, how will they learn about this kind of longing? And, if they hear 'the coming of Jesus' talked about at church, and perhaps at school, but never hear us talk about the meaning of the coming of Jesus for us, what kind of message will we be giving them?
Of course, our children will be watching us and listening to us - what we say and do, and what we fail to say and do. So, the first thing we can give our children is our own commitment to enter Advent as deeply as we can. We want to clear our own spirits so that we can be present to theirs. The graces we receive can be the graces we share with them. The site goes on to give specific examples of how parents can talk to their children about their religious experiences.
Two other websites worth noting provide links to a host of other Advent and Christmas websites: http://www.worship.ca/christmas.html and http://internetpadre.com/Christmas/advent.html. have the merit of indicating what visitors might find in the various websites and resources cited, saving users considerable time by providing information on the content and intended audience.

Keep it simple

In preparing Advent, it is important to remember the many ways in which we can celebrate the season: through prayer, home and church liturgy, music and song, arts and crafts, gift-making, good works and gatherings with families, friends and neighbours.
Families with both older and younger children have noted the importance of keeping celebrations simple. If you plan on praying together as a family every day, for example, that might be too much, and may lead to frustration instead of joy.
With this in mind, I recently purchased a craft book for my two little nieces who are three and a half and almost two, respectively. At that age, if they do one craft among those suggested, great! If they do none at all, perhaps they will be able to do one the following year. The book may also inspire their parents to do something completely different that would achieve the same objective.
In families with both older and younger children, it is also important to remember that the needs of the children are different as they grow older. In this respect, Advent is an ideal time to reconnect with Church and faith life. It is a time when our church celebrations are more varied and joyful.
Have a wonderful Advent season!