Share Ideas For Preparing for Christmas with Advent

[Calm]

Advent officially starts November 27th this year, but I am stuck in the December 1st mode of Advent Calendars, so I am one day late posting this…

Because I love themes for Christmas (leaving the links active in case someone wants more info):

”In the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church, the readings of Mass on the Sundays of Advent have distinct themes:^[46]

1. On the First Sunday (Advent Sunday), they look forward to the Second Coming of Christ.
2. On the Second Sunday, the Gospel reading recalls the preaching of John the Baptist, who came to "prepare the way of the Lord"; the other readings have associated themes.
3. On the Third Sunday (Gaudete Sunday), the Gospel reading is again about John the Baptist, the other readings about the joy associated with the coming of the Saviour.
4. On the Fourth Sunday, the Gospel reading is about the events involving Mary and Joseph that led directly to the birth of Jesus, while the other readings are related to these.

In another tradition:^[48][49]

1. The readings for the first Sunday in Advent relate to the Old Testament patriarchs who were Christ's ancestors, so some call the first Advent candle that of hope.
2. The readings for the second Sunday concern Christ's birth in a manger and other prophecies, so the candle may be called that of Bethlehem, the way, or of the prophets.
3. The third Sunday, Gaudete Sunday after the first word of the introit (Philippians 4:4), is celebrated with rose-coloured vestments similar to Laetare Sunday at the middle point of Lent. The readings relate to John the Baptist, and the rose candle may be called that of joy or of the shepherds. In the Episcopal Church USA, the collect "Stir up" (the first words of the collect) may be read during this week, although before the 1979 revision of the Book of Common Prayer it was sometimes read in the first Sunday of Advent. Even earlier, 'Stir-up Sunday' was once jocularly associated with the stirring of the Christmas mincemeat, begun before Advent. The phrase "stir up" occurs at the start of the collect for the last Sunday before Advent in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer.^[50]
4. The readings for the fourth Sunday relate to the annunciation of Christ's birth, so the candle may be known as the Angel's candle. The Magnificat or Song of Mary may be featured.
5. Where an Advent wreath includes a fifth candle, it is known as the Christ candle and is lit during the Christmas Eve service.

Other variations of the themes celebrated on each of the four Sundays include:

• The Prophets' Candle, symbolizing hope; the Bethlehem Candle, symbolizing faith; the Shepherds' Candle, symbolizing joy; the Angel's Candle, symbolizing peace^[46]
• Hope–Peace–Joy–Love^[51]
• Faithfulness–Hope–Joy–Love^[52]
• Prophets–Angels–Shepherds–Magi^[52]
• Faith–Prepare–Joy–Love^[53”

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advent#Four_Sundays

So the first week of Advent is centered on Hope (and not just the hope of “man, I hope I get these advent calendars all ready by Thursday” that I am feeling at the moment).

And why am I into Advent this year?

Every year with my grandkids getting older, it is harder to come up with family theme presents.  I have even missed years when inspiration didn’t hit…like the last two years when shopping and creating were almost impossible. Last year I almost even gave up the yearly Lego presents I have been doing for birthdays and Christmas for 37 years (we started my son’s third Christmas and found out then you don’t give him the Lego present till last or he won’t be interested in anyone else’s gifts which can be a big let down for all the ‘boy, am I overly eager for the first grandkid in the family to open up my present’ adults, but surprisingly everyone besides my daughter in law who is ‘meh’ on Legos promptly had a hissy fit. Apparently the laid back, ‘presents are nice, but no big deal’ attitude of my family actually covers a deep abiding need to accumulate legos whether one plays with them much or not any more.  There is something of a Lego Gollum in all of us (minus one).

This year two months ago when I still was in my energy spree with big ideas, I came up with the family theme of Advent, getting a individually related Advent calendar for each…my hobby magician husband will be getting an advent calendar of little magic tricks, my one granddaughter who gets out my beads every visit will be getting her own beads she can make into jewelry, my daughter will get the calendar that started the whole thing—Pokémon—need I say more on that obsession?,  etc.  It has been hard to get together the last few years first with Covid and then now with health stuff and busy schedules (my grandson now has a job that makes it hard to get everyone together) and I thought this could be a way we spend the whole month together even if we aren’t in the same place at the same time.  
 

Now to assemble the non prepackaged ones in 4 days…here’s hoping my household helper is free this Wednesday!

And in continuing that theme…

I happened to come across this blog and decided to gift it to those of you who might be able to adapt it into your life for having a more enjoyable and meaningful Advent.

https://huntsmanseasonal.blogspot.com/p/christmas-resource-guide.html?m=1

Edited November 28, 2022 by Calm

[Calm]

Another way to celebrate Advent could be signing up for daily text reminders. For example, this from the Church:

“Who needs your light today? This December, look out for opportunities to show kindness and compassion to the people around you. Sign up for daily texts below and receive new inspiration each day.

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Text LIGHT to 71234”

No doubt other faiths have their own versions and there are likely generic ones as well.

 

 

[JustAnAustralian]

My only tip is not to eat all the little chocolates in the calendar on day 1.