Always be Prepared - an Advent motto

Today is the First Sunday in Advent, the time of preparation. The first half is preparation for the second coming of Christ, while the second half is preparation to celebrate the coming of the Christ-Child on Christmas. Today's Gospel reading from  Matthew 24 exhorted us to "be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come." Tough words to contemplate in today's world.

During this time of Advent, I've decided to spend some time increasing my knowledge of my new found Catholic faith in three different ways. First, I will be using an Advent wreath along with readings from the Advent and Christmas Wisdom from St. Thomas Aquinas book. I also picked up The Magnificat Advent Companion for good measure. I have not quite figured out how to incorporate both of them into the plan but at the moment, I'm thinking that I'll read one in the morning and the other in the evening or right before going to sleep.  Secondly, I want to attend daily mass at least once each week.  I have found that it brings an extra measure of grace that is often needed in the midst of the week. The advantage of working on a Catholic hospital campus is mass three times a week!  Lastly, I want to read and reflect on some books about the Catholic faith or at least somewhat faith related. So expect to see some blog posts about the books and what they meant for my life in this moment.

I do realize that God often foils the best laid plans of men so there will be some changes over the course of the next four weeks.  So I invite you to join me in making preparations!

2013 Advent wreath
(the white center candle is from my confirmation!)