Catholic New Media Advent Calendar December 24

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“In the stable at Bethlehem, heaven and earth meet. Heaven has come down to earth. For this reason, a light shines from the stable for all times; for this reason, joy is kindled there; for this reason, song is born there.”–Pope Benedict XVI

Merry Christmas from DivineOffice.org

Today we have a special Advent recording from Dane Faulkner, and the crew at  DivineOffice.Org, introducing us to some ancient advent hymns.  DivineOffice.Org is a wonderful ministry helping people to pray the liturgy of the hours.

Merry Christmas from Paul Sofranko

Paul Sofranko and his wife Rose live in house in the woods with two cats. Rose is an author and visual artist whose work can be found at Artist4God. Paul blogs at Sober Catholic and The Four Last Things.  He has been helping me with some of the behind the scenes work on the Advent Calendar.

Today Paul brings us not one but two Advent reflections, one for each of his blogs.

Today on Sober Catholic, Paul offers a reflection on Making Room at the Inn.

Advent, a time of waiting for the coming of Christ the Lord. How well do we receive Him into our lives? Is He welcome in all areas of it or do we compartmentalize (pigeon-hole) Him in convenient places?
There are many distractions, and we do not make sufficient room for Him in the inn that is our lives. He is pushed outdoors.
Some of these distractions are addictive. These addictions fill the “hole in the soul” that should be filled by Jesus and the Sacraments. Grace alone should suffice but we improperly seek it. We are misdirected in our gropings in the dark for Truth and Life. We don’t find them in the right places. We stray from the path marked out for us.

Jesus is ever-present in the Blessed Sacrament and ever-waiting for us to come to Him. We prepare our way to Him through prayer, meditation and examining our consciences. We offer up a contrite heart as a sacrifice to Him, so that we will be pleasing in His sight.

And then Jesus, upon being asked, enters our lives and fills our very being with the stuff we seek: healing, direction, life. Things we sought elsewhere and failed miserably because we were deceived.

Christmas is coming, with Jesus in the Manger. Are we prepared to welcome and receive Him?

Over on The Four Last Things, he is reflecting upon The Coming of the Lord.

The season of Advent is a time of preparation for the coming of the Lord. Although the obvious point of the season is the Nativity of Jesus, the Mass readings in the weeks leading up to Advent and then in Advent itself serve to remind us that there is not one, but two comings of Jesus Christ, Our Savior.

The First was when He was born of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Second will be His Coming at the the end of time, the end of the Ages.
Advent is a time of Preparation. Just as the Lord God prepared the way of His only begotten Son by the Announcement to Mary by the Archangel Gabriel, and later His arrival on the public scene by the preaching of John the Baptist, so to do we Catholic Christians announce the presence of the Lord to the World today.

Christmas is about His first Coming. His Birth and later Death as told in Scripture indicates that there will be a Second Coming. His first was that of an innocent babe destined to be judged and executed years later. His Second will be as glorious as the first was humble, and He will be the judge.

Jesus is coming. Are we prepared to meet Him? Are we ready for His Second Coming of Judgment, will He find Faith in our lives and hearts? For a more immediate basis are we even prepared to meet Him in the Blessed Sacrament when we go to Mass? We are not supposed to receive Him in the Eucharist if we knowingly have a mortal sin on our soul, or even a serious attachment to sin (we need to effectively amending our lives).

We all have “clean up our sides of the street”, to sweep up the messes of our past and recover a future and live as best we can in following His will.

Prepare for the Coming of Our Lord. Make room for Him in your heart, mind and soul.

Tonight at 7pm EST, there will be a special Christmas Eve post for this advent Calendar.

Join us tomorrow for Christmas reflections produced by great Catholic New Media personalities as we journey through advent.

1. Send me your feedback on the blog at catholicroundup.com by email at catholicroundup@gmail.com or by calling 206-666-7374 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              206-666-7374      end_of_the_skype_highlighting.

2. Go to the Catholic New Media Advent Calendar

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