Keeping Christ in Christmas: Advent & Christmas Ideas & Link Up

By bobbi
December 8, 2012
4 Comments

Happy feast day of the Immaculate Conception! Happy end of the first week of Advent! Happy debut of RoL’s new home! I have a lot to be thankful for. 🙂

How did your first week of Advent go? I love to talk to other Catholic moms (and dads) and find out what kind of Advent and Christmas traditions they have to keep Christ in Christmas.

As for our family, this is what we are doing this year.

The Advent Wreath

This year we finally needed to make a new Advent wreath since ours was falling apart. Last year after Christmas, when Target put everything on clearance, I picked up a door wreath. I also replaced our pathetic candle holder that never kept our candles straight no matter what tricks I tried. I finally managed to find three thick purple candles and one pink. Toppling candle problem solved. (It also lessened the boys’ desire to pick them up and use them like swords.)

This year we also started using Sarah Reinhard’s book Welcome Baby Jesus: Advent and Christmas Reflections for Families. It only cost $1.99 at Amazon (and $0.99 on Kindle) but it has wonderful daily reflections that are simple enough for the kids to understand.

Each night we gather around the Advent wreath, light the candle(s), read the day’s reflection out of the book, and say our night prayers.

We also find out the next day’s Advent activity…

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The Advent Calendar

Every year I say we are going to use an Advent Calendar but I never get around to it. Finally this year, I planned early. (I know! I kinda shocked myself too.) Originally I was going to get one of those cute Nativity wall Advent calendars but I was also thinking of a calendar with boxes that could be filled and opened. Then I saw this country house calendar at Target and I loved it! (Target to the rescue. Again.)

I wanted to fill each box with a slip of paper that had one sacrifice or act of kindness that everyone in the family would do that day. For inspiration I printed out these:

From Loyola Press.com I printed out the Children’s Advent Calendar (they also have one for adults) and Catholic Mom’s 2012 Printable Advent Chain.

I simply cut up the calendar and put the little paper square into the corresponding day. For those days that the activity didn’t suit our family situation, I substituted with one of the advent chain strips or simply wrote my own activity and folded them into the boxes.

Each night after prayers we open the following day’s box and read what we’ll do that day. After we read the activity we then place the slip of paper in Jesus’ stocking. At the end of Advent Jesus has 25 little gifts that we offered for him.

(Note: You don’t have to spend money to buy any fancy box or calendar. Just print the calendar and hang it on the fridge or follow the cute Advent chain idea.)

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The Jesus Stocking/ Gift Box

Years back we bought a pretty gold stocking that would be for Jesus. During Advent we all have been making small sacrifices for the Child Jesus and placing those little sacrifices in his stocking. The day before Christmas the kids make and decorate birthday cards for Jesus and the adults use card stock in which they write down an act of love or sacrifice for Jesus. It can be anything from making an extra Holy hour to sharing a toy with a sibling. Some years we make a special wrapped gift with a slot cut out on top so we can slip our cards inside. Other years we simply placed our card in Jesus’ gold stocking. Anything will do as long as offering acts of love for Christ is the focus.

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Have a Birthday Party for Jesus

Being Jesus’ birthday, it is only natural that it is celebrated as such with Christ being the guest of honor, rather than Santa. On Christmas morning we would all gather around the table that holds the empty manger. We would place a large white candle in the center of the advent wreathe and light it. Then Mom or Dad (or an honored sibling) would place the child Jesus in his manger and we’d all sing Happy Birthday. Then the festivities would begin, which included a birthday cake decorated by the kids, of course.

A Nativity Set for the Littles

Anyone with children knows that they are very hands on. They also know how their blood pressure rises every time their little one grabs the ceramic Mary of St. Joseph from the nativity set and starts running down the hallway with it. A nativity scene that the kids can touch and move around makes life sooo much easier. There are a number of different kinds you can get but we finally decided on the Fisher Price Little People Nativity Set. They can be a bit pricey but a few years back we found a simple one at Target for around $25. It was worth it!

The Spirit of Giving

Nothing invokes greediness quite as quickly as a materialistic holiday season. To help conquer this, it is helpful to keep kids (and adults) focused on the spirit of giving, especially those less fortunate. If you have older kids this can be done through working at a soup kitchen, food pantry, or visiting the elderly. Most parishes have programs where you pick a name or number and by a gift for a specific child. Kids, including little ones, can do extra jobs and chores around the house to earn some extra money (or use their tithing money if they get an allowance) in order to buy small gifts for these needy children. Or they can help you buy canned good for the local food bank. I also try to personalize the children to my kids. Instead of getting a gift for “Girl #96” or “Boy, age 5” I’ll give them a name. So when we go to shop we find the perfect gift for little Juan who just turned 5. Or we pick the kind of soup “Maria” and her Mama would like to have on a cold afternoon. It helps to put a face to the person in need.

In some cases you may even be able to help deliver these gifts. Seeing the living conditions of those less fortunate (physically and spiritually) or seeing the gratitude of a poor child thankful for a simple gift or act of kindness, helps to instill generosity and thankfulness for their own blessing. Christmas is a good time to start this process but it can be carried on throughout the year, making giving of oneself not just a holiday thing, but a way of life.

There are numerous other ways to keep Christ in Advent and Christmas but these are just a few suggestions that we practice. With a little imagination (and the prompting of the Holy Spirit) you can start your own family traditions of truly living Christmas!

Feel free to comment and share your own traditions with us! Or have you already written a post about your family traditions? If so, please add your link! I’ll keep this up until the Epiphany so you’ll have plenty of time.

PS – Thanks to my sister-in-law Maria for letting me use her paining “Madonna and Child” on the blog.

UPDATE: I’ve added a second post with more ideas sent to me from various Catholic families. Check it out here.

You can grab this logo if you’d like. 🙂

A Blessed Lent 2012

By bobbi
February 22, 2012
2 Comments

Happy Ash Wednesday! Or as it is more commonly known out in public – Happy “hey, you’ve got some dirt on your forehead” day. 😉 Hopefully most of you decided long ago what you are going to give up or what you are going to do. If you are a procrastinator like myself, then you are still debating what you should do this lent.

If you need some inspiration, Danielle Bean has always had great ideas about what to do for Lent! Two years ago I did the 40 Bags in 40 Days as she suggested. This year she posted 40 Ways for 40 Days. The ideas are excellent covering the areas of prayer, fasting and alms giving. You could surely find something perfect for you. You could even print off her list and cut out each suggestion. Place in a jar and pick one out to work on that day or that week. It could make it a little fun, especially if the kids are involved in picking!

For our kids we are doing the Holy Heroes Lenten Adventure. We purchased the Lenten Adventure Activity Book Set for the kids.

For the younger boys who can’t do the older puzzle pages, we purchased the Life of Christ Complete Coloring Pack to help them learn the all the mysteries of the rosary.

You can also sign up for the free Lenten Adventure emails that sends you activities to do with your kids during Lent.
For me personally, during this Lent I want to work on my time management – lessen my time spend on frivolity (hello, Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Downton Abbey websites…) and spend more time praying, reading Scripture/spiritual books and teaching my kids about the faith.

I don’t want to cut these “frivolous” things out completely because frankly, it’s a part of my life and I might as well learn how to moderate it. It reminds me of being on a diet. You can starve yourself and lost 10 pounds but eventually you are going to have to learn how to eat moderately and in a healthy manner. So that is my goal. Learn how to spend my time in a spiritually healthy manner. This can still seem a bit vague so each day during my morning prayer I make one or two mini-goals – a concrete act I can do to get me closer to the big picture.

How about you? What are you doing this Lent? Feel free to share and have a blessed Ash Wednesday!

A Christmas Reflection: The Christmas Donkey

By bobbi
December 25, 2011
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Here is a Christmas reflection from my better half. Enjoy!

The Christmas Donkey

by Brian

Today Catholics throughout the world are celebrating Christmas! It is a time of rejoicing, but should also be a time of reflection.

There are a number of “principle players” that make up the story of Christ’s birth. Of course there is the most important player, the baby Jesus. From there you have Mary and Joseph, the angel Gabriel and his fellow angels, the Magi, the Star, and last but not least, the Shepherds. Within this story there is another character that Cardinal Albino Luciani, later to be Pope John Paul I, wrote about in a letter from 1977. The letter was entitled, “The Lesson of the Christmas Donkey.”
In this short letter, Cardinal Luciani lifts up the Christmas Donkey as a witness to several key virtues that are important for Catholics to live out.
The first trait is “humility.” I don’t think anyone would deny that donkeys are one of the most humble of creatures. As Catholics, humility is an extremely important virtue especially if you are striving for holiness. To be humble is not to be a human doormat, but rather it is to walk in the light and truth of Jesus Christ. Christmas is a perfect time for us to reflect upon the virtue of humility and how we live it, or not live it, on a daily basis.
The second trait, pointed out by Cardinal Luciani, is the work ethic of the donkey. The donkey is known to be hard working, and as Cardinal Luciani writes, a “tenacious worker,” whose function is to carry heavy loads or perform other menial tasks. This image should remind us, as children of God, how laziness is not acceptable. Rather, we are all called to labor and to work for the glory of God, no matter how humble or great the task.
The third trait explored by Cardinal Luciani is how the donkey is a friend of the poor. The Cardinal refers to the donkey as the “right arm of the poor.” As we enter the Christmas season and move into the New Year it would be a good idea to reflect on how we view the poor and also whether we, as Catholics, contribute to helping the poor either by a hands on apostolate or through financial assistance.
The fourth and final trait is that the donkey is an animal of “patience and gentleness.” Although donkeys are known to be stubborn, they are the gentlest of creatures. Their patience truly shines, especially when they are forced to labor and carry heavy loads for long stretches of time. A good question to ask ourselves would be: do I strive in my interaction with family members, co-workers, even strangers to be an example of “gentleness and patience”?
With Christmas here these lessons from the Christmas donkey can certainly help us to be better Catholics. By practicing humility, working hard, helping the poor, being patient and gentle with others we will certainly reflect the light of Christ into a world that is growing spiritually dark. God bless and Merry Christmas.

It’s Just What I Needed at Four in the Morning

By bobbi
December 21, 2011
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(Although this isn’t posted until now, I wrote it this morn. 😉
It’s 5:30 in the morning and I can’t sleep. I haven’t been able to sleep since 4am. Matthew woke me up and he needed to be changed and fed. Since his bed is right next to mine I can usually do this quickly and fall right back to sleep, but not this morning.

Since it’s nice and cozy in my bed snuggled between my baby and my hubby I pulled out my iPhone (yes, I sleep with it) and opened up my google reader to find a ridiculous amount of posts waiting to be read. I must admit that although it is insanely early, it is so nice to be able to just relax and catch up on the news and activities of my fellow Catholic moms. I always find inspiration, humor and a little pep talk when I need it most.
God has a way of giving you exactly what you need when you need it.

As I was reading certain posts it brought to mind my experience at Confession on Saturday. It had been a rough couple of weeks and I could feel my insides all tied up in knots and stressed. I knew I had to make the most of this last week of Advent and Confession was the first step. After telling my sins to the priests he spoke to me about a few things but what struck me was his reminder that God’s gifts to me this Christmas are my husband and my children, despite any personal difficulties I may have in being a good wife and mother. It’s not as if I don’t already know that but it was as if my life flashed before my eyes and I saw a quick glimpse of how blessed I am and how much I take for granted. It moved me to tears. These tears were just what I needed since, coupled with God’s grace, they washed away all the muck in my soul and refreshed my spirit. It was just what I needed.

Of course, those moments after confession are like the moments after a retreat. You are gung ho “on the mountaintop” with Jesus but once you return to the real world, life can dampen your resolve. However, God gave me a quick reminder of Saturday’s lesson at four in the morning when I read It is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost by Kate Wicker. She spoke about whether or not we should bring our rambunctious younger children to Mass. I’m not entering that debate right now but what stood out most for me was this paragraph:

Yet, I kept thinking about a recent post over at Rosetta Stone. (I know I should have been paying more attention to Mass, but it was enough for me to be thinking about anything besides strangling my toddler.) Michelle wrote that, “Nothing compares to a three-year-old boy. Nothing.” I’m not going to start comparing who is harder – girls or boys. I loved what someone wrote after an older post of mine that wherever you’re at and whatever you’ve been given is probably the hardest for you. If God is trying to prune us and sanctify us through the vocation of parenthood, then it makes sense that He gives us just the kind of children we need – the kind that will push our buttons and throw us down to our knees and force us to realize that we cannot, absolutely cannot, do this on our own. We need Him. We need to keep a constant dialogue open with God throughout our days. Even when we find ourselves questioning everything about God – whether we’ll ever have a personal relationship with Him, whether He even really exists or cares deeply, profoundly about us and our children – we have to keep talking. We don’t have to pray like others pray. We have to pray as we pray. Sometimes we have to simply show up – and stay put once we’ve arrived even if every part of us is screaming to just go, escape, get the heck out of there before you or your child really loses it [at Mass].

“If God is trying to prune us and sanctify us through the vocation of parenthood, then it makes sense that He gives us just the kind of children we need…” I love that. It is so true. Our vocation is tailor made with small crosses (or big) that will sanctify us and lead us along our path to heaven. And we are never, never alone on our journey. We just have to always keep our eyes and hearts set on the Lord. Thank God that He is so patient with us and never stops reminding us and sending us what we need when we need it.

PS – You can follow RoL on Bloglovin, Feedly or another news feed. If you are a social media fan like me, we can stay in touch through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, GoodReads, Letterboxd or Instagram (It’s set to private but I’ll approve you.) 😉

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Happy Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe

By bobbi
December 12, 2011
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“Am I not here, I who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not the source of your joy? Are you not in the hollow of my mantle, in the crossing of my arms? Do you need something more? Let nothing else worry you or disturb you.” ~ Our Lady of Guadalupe to St. Juan Diego

Revolution of Love

Do small things with great love.

Category Archives: liturgical year