Five Family Advent Ideas

Yesterday we learned about Advent in two minutes.  So how do we practice preparation in our family?  Here are five ways your family can prepare for Christmas this Advent.

Decorate

My wife and I started a tradition last year of decorating our house on the third Sunday of Advent.  Why the third Sunday?  Because it's Gaudete Sunday!  It's a Sunday of Joy and we mark that time as a Church by using rose (pink) colored vestments at mass and light the rose (pink) colored candle.  Decorate with various greens, religious icons or drawings or pictures, lights, a creche (see below) and of course all the usual Christmas decorations.

Use an Advent Calendar

There are many Advent calendars to choose from online.  Here's one for a family (PDF) and one for children (PDF).  For you parents, here's one you can do online, which I do every year.  It includes a short quote or video clip and an action to do each day. On the First Sunday of Advent, it featured an excellent video clip from Lord of the Rings -- so you know it must be good.

Or, make your own calendar.  On the days from today to Christmas, write a different action you or your family can do in preparation for the coming of Christ. For example, write a Christmas card to a relatives, clean the house for guests, or make Christmas presents instead of buying them.

Make a Creche
At the manger scene, you can gather each night for prayer. Tell your kids to place one piece of straw in the cradle for good deeds they or their family did that day. The more good deeds, the softer the cradle becomes for Jesus. My family has a tradition of placing baby Jesus in the cradle when we come back from Christmas Mass on Christmas Eve.  Use that or create your own tradition.

Use an Advent Wreath
Light candles corresponding to the candles lit at Mass on Sundays and pray around the wreath every day.  Need your wreath blessed?  Try this family Advent wreath blessing from Loyola Press or this blessing from our own US Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Donate
Gather some clothes, toys, and other items to donate to a local charity. Try donating a favorite toy or favorite article of clothing. It may be difficult, but giving up our favorite items can foster a deeper love for others and remind us that others deserve the best we have to offer.

How does your family prepare for Advent?  What's your favorite family tradition?  What do you hope your children pass on to their children?  Share your ideas, leave a comment.

New Roman Missal: And With Your Spirit

Rejoining Catholics Worldwide in Saying "Spirit"

Yep, pretty official looking

"The Lord be with you."

"And with your spirit"

With the implementation of the New Roman Missal, the first change everyone will notice is the re-translation of the Latin "et cum spiritu tuo."  The previous translation, "And also with you" will be replaced with "And with your spirit," which aligns the English-speaking Catholics with Catholics across the globe.  In Italian, this phrase is translated "E con il tuo spirito," in French "Et avec votre esprit," in Spanish "Y con tu espíritu," and in German "Und mit deinem Geiste."

Scriptural Influences
The greeting between the priest and the assembly is not foreign to our faith, but an exchange the springs forth from Scripture.  Let's take a look:
"The Lord be with you." The priest's greeting to us is plucked almost word for word from the Gospel of Luke:

And coming to her, he said, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.” -- Luke 1:28

Mary is hearing from the angel of God for the first time.  Another translation of the verse implores Mary to "rejoice" in hearing the greeting.  We too should rejoice when we gather and are greeted because we know that we enjoy God's favor as we gather to receive the Word of God in the Scripture and the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist.  And like Mary, we have a choice to work with God to bring about the Kingdom here on Earth.

"And with your spirit."  Again, we find a very strong link to Scripture:

The Lord be with your spirit.  Grace be with you. -- 2 Timothy 4:22

At the end of his letter to Timothy, Paul asks the Lord to be with Timothy's spirit.  When we reply to the priest, we are asking the same.  The entire greeting expresses a desire for God's presence to be with us as we enter into prayer together either at the beginning of mass, or at other new moments during mass.

More on "And with your Spirit" after the jump.