Photo by John Brundage

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“What would it be like if Frodo and Sam met JRR Tolkien?” A priest asked this question two years ago in one of the best Christmas sermons I’ve ever heard. Imagining this sort of meeting gets us on the right track when it comes to thinking about what it meant for Jesus to come to earth as an infant on Christmas. I wrote an article about this question for the National Shrine of the Little Flower’s magazine (page 7). I also talked about how at mass we don’t merely commemorate Christmas, we mysteriously relive it.

Imagine what it would be like to meet the author of your story? What would you want to say to the person who decided what day your birthday would be? Who knew everything that would happen to you and fashioned every detail about the world around you? This unquestionably would be the meeting of your life. An opportunity to understand who you are and why you exist unlike any other. 

I’m not describing a hypothetical scenario. This meeting will happen in dramatic and terrifyingly awesome fashion at the end of our lives and at the second coming of Christ. But it also happens each time we lift our minds and hearts to God in prayer. Each time we sit before God is a supreme opportunity to discover the meaning of our lives and to experience the communion with God we were created for.

So how come prayer is so boring all the time? Why does it basically never live up to the incredible reality our faith assures us it represents? I’m in ‘you could write libraries full of books’ territory, so I’ll just touch on one aspect: preparation. We don’t encounter Jesus because we aren’t prepared to meet him. Our minds and hearts are weighed down by sin. They are occupied by worries and vexations and inordinate attachments. 

For many, there is no period of time where this is more true than the weeks leading up to Christmas. Here busyness and pressure are high, while days (and all too often tempers) are short. This season where we are supposed to remember what’s important in life is the season where it’s easiest to forget that. 

This is one of the many reasons the Church observes the season of Advent. Advent is a time dedicated to preparation. Preparation for reliving Christmas, and preparation for Christ’s second coming at the end of the world. But most importantly, preparation for the coming of Jesus into our hearts. And most practically, it’s an opportunity to get out ahead of the busyness of life and get the most out of Christmas.

How do we prepare for Christmas during Advent? Advent is not officially a penitential season (unlike Lent, where fasting and penance are more heavily emphasized). But the USCCB points out that advent still “includes an element of penance in the sense of preparing, quieting, and disciplining our hearts for the full joy of Christmas.” Part of what makes Christmas Day so special is the fact that we wait until then to open our presents. And this anticipation is carefully fostered not just by delaying gratification, but through carols, lights, stories, dinners, movies, and countless other traditions. Doing advent right means bringing that mentality of ‘fostering specialness’ into our spiritual life.

What does that look like practically? For some, it’s lighting an advent wreath at dinner. For others, it’s volunteering at a food pantry. Still others benign a daily advent devotional. But what’s most important is preparing in the way God wants you to prepare. If you haven’t already, take some time in silent prayer, and ask Jesus how he wants you to become ready for the full joy of Christmas.

John Brundage is a seminarian with the Companions of the Cross. He also writes a Substack Newsletter called Integrated Prayer.

Check out John’s faith-related articles here!