An Advent Welcome
ll, the first snowfall has happened – I don’t necessarily count Halloween because it didn’t stick. It only seems like yesterday that we were being prompted to reflect on the Fall Triduum and the “dying” world around us. Now, we are fully into winter and the days are shorter and darkness is more prevalent. Now, as dreary as that may seem, there is hope for those who really enjoy their vitamin C in the light of Christ coming back into our lives and then actual sunlight coming back into our lives longer a few months later. Next week, we enter into a time of preparation in the season of Advent. Advent has four weeks and a theme for each week, which keep us far from darkness. The first week of Advent is about HOPE. Hope is what we have in the coming of Jesus, which is renewed in each season of Advent and Lent. The second week of Advent is about PEACE. Right now, we need to pray and act for peace more than ever. The third week of Advent is about JOY. Classic question: what brings you joy? Not just fleeting happiness, but authentic joy. The fourth week of Advent is about LOVE. Later during His public ministry, Jesus gives us His two greatest commandments, which both had to do with love: love of God and love of neighbor. All of this prepares us for welcoming Jesus into our lives once more.
A couple of years ago, a mentor of mine sent me a graphic to share with the youth I was working with in our Leadership Academy, which said, “Each of us is an innkeeper who decides if there is room for Jesus.” This is based on Luke 2:7. During this season of Advent, it can be easy for it to get away from us in the form of preparations for the things that, while important, aren’t about preparing for Jesus. This season has so much to offer us to help break away from the “every day, every year” routines of the season in preparation for December 25, which is only one day of the Christmas season itself. During this season, it is important to celebrate with others. During Advent and Christmas, there are roughly 29 holidays celebrated by just the major 7 world religions and within our rich Catholic tradition many ethnic traditions like the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Feast of St. Nicholas, Immaculate Conception, Simbang Gabi, Kwanzaa, posadas, and more. There are also many symbols that helps us keep tradition in the season like the Jesse Tree, the Advent wreath, and the creche.
So, my siblings in Christ, Happy Advent-ing and let us ask ourselves what kind of innkeeper we are going to be this year when that knock comes to our door.
Peace,
Oblate James Holzhauer-Chuckas, ObSB
Executive Director
A couple of years ago, a mentor of mine sent me a graphic to share with the youth I was working with in our Leadership Academy, which said, “Each of us is an innkeeper who decides if there is room for Jesus.” This is based on Luke 2:7. During this season of Advent, it can be easy for it to get away from us in the form of preparations for the things that, while important, aren’t about preparing for Jesus. This season has so much to offer us to help break away from the “every day, every year” routines of the season in preparation for December 25, which is only one day of the Christmas season itself. During this season, it is important to celebrate with others. During Advent and Christmas, there are roughly 29 holidays celebrated by just the major 7 world religions and within our rich Catholic tradition many ethnic traditions like the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Feast of St. Nicholas, Immaculate Conception, Simbang Gabi, Kwanzaa, posadas, and more. There are also many symbols that helps us keep tradition in the season like the Jesse Tree, the Advent wreath, and the creche.
So, my siblings in Christ, Happy Advent-ing and let us ask ourselves what kind of innkeeper we are going to be this year when that knock comes to our door.
Peace,
Oblate James Holzhauer-Chuckas, ObSB
Executive Director
Journey with Us
Weekly Formation
Fourth Week of Advent: Love is a House
Jason McKean
Faith Formation and Evangelization Team Member
Love is a house.
Wood, wire, windowpanes; shingles, stone, ceilings. When I think of my childhood house, I sometimes think of its material: the cold concrete and cobwebs of the basement bathroom beneath the stairs, the heat of the rough brick chimney that passed through my brother’s room. Each element forms part of the structure that, assembled together, makes up the house.
The structure shelters life, lived. I don’t remember just the bathroom, but the jokes about it being “primitive,” and the disappointment of descending to it when the upstairs bathroom was occupied. I don’t remember just the chimney’s heat, but also my brother’s occasional grace of opening the door between to share it. The kitchen table dominated its room, but faded to a background against the chatter, laughter, and squabbles of our family of seven. The living room with its tiny television provided thrills and heartache, fascination and education as our family watched the Packers, or Star Trek, or the news together. My parents’ room, where I was reminded to work hard when laziness struck, pushed to achieve at the math I loathed, and embraced after rejection. The structure held all of us as we held each other.
Love is a house.
In the fourth Sunday of Advent, the first reading tells us that David wanted to build God a house. Love as a house! But God said no, David: I’m going to make you into a house. He told David that David’s family would become a house to hold the Israelites and live together in God’s love. Read a little further, past the end of today’s reading, and you will find David answering God in prayer with thanks: “be pleased to bless the house of your servant.”
The angel announces God’s plan to Mary in today’s Gospel: “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.” In response, Mary answered God, “May it be done to me according to your word.” And so, Mary became a house for the Son of God.
We can peek around the corner of Advent’s end to find Christmas Eve, and the manger where Jesus lay newly born. Strewn with straw and filled with animals, it was a roughly-hewn structure. And yet, the Love born that night drew both shepherds and kings to flourish in its light and warmth. No matter the cold concrete; the tiny TV; the folly of a boy, or a king; the meekness of a mother; or the poverty of a manger, God’s love makes a house of each of us where we welcome Him.
Love is a house.
Just like God and David, or God and Mary, as the fourth week of Advent closes God asks you, too: will you be a house for me? Will you be a house for my people? Who will you shelter, and for whom will you provide a space for life, lived? You don’t have to be a perfectly engineered structure, or the most beautiful, or the most powerful. All you have to do is say, “Yes.” As the calendar turns from Advent today to Christmas tomorrow, UCYM’s Christmas wish for you is to have a place where you are home, and a place to hold the baby Jesus.
May your house be love.
Jason McKean
Faith Formation and Evangelization Team Member
Love is a house.
Wood, wire, windowpanes; shingles, stone, ceilings. When I think of my childhood house, I sometimes think of its material: the cold concrete and cobwebs of the basement bathroom beneath the stairs, the heat of the rough brick chimney that passed through my brother’s room. Each element forms part of the structure that, assembled together, makes up the house.
The structure shelters life, lived. I don’t remember just the bathroom, but the jokes about it being “primitive,” and the disappointment of descending to it when the upstairs bathroom was occupied. I don’t remember just the chimney’s heat, but also my brother’s occasional grace of opening the door between to share it. The kitchen table dominated its room, but faded to a background against the chatter, laughter, and squabbles of our family of seven. The living room with its tiny television provided thrills and heartache, fascination and education as our family watched the Packers, or Star Trek, or the news together. My parents’ room, where I was reminded to work hard when laziness struck, pushed to achieve at the math I loathed, and embraced after rejection. The structure held all of us as we held each other.
Love is a house.
In the fourth Sunday of Advent, the first reading tells us that David wanted to build God a house. Love as a house! But God said no, David: I’m going to make you into a house. He told David that David’s family would become a house to hold the Israelites and live together in God’s love. Read a little further, past the end of today’s reading, and you will find David answering God in prayer with thanks: “be pleased to bless the house of your servant.”
The angel announces God’s plan to Mary in today’s Gospel: “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.” In response, Mary answered God, “May it be done to me according to your word.” And so, Mary became a house for the Son of God.
We can peek around the corner of Advent’s end to find Christmas Eve, and the manger where Jesus lay newly born. Strewn with straw and filled with animals, it was a roughly-hewn structure. And yet, the Love born that night drew both shepherds and kings to flourish in its light and warmth. No matter the cold concrete; the tiny TV; the folly of a boy, or a king; the meekness of a mother; or the poverty of a manger, God’s love makes a house of each of us where we welcome Him.
Love is a house.
Just like God and David, or God and Mary, as the fourth week of Advent closes God asks you, too: will you be a house for me? Will you be a house for my people? Who will you shelter, and for whom will you provide a space for life, lived? You don’t have to be a perfectly engineered structure, or the most beautiful, or the most powerful. All you have to do is say, “Yes.” As the calendar turns from Advent today to Christmas tomorrow, UCYM’s Christmas wish for you is to have a place where you are home, and a place to hold the baby Jesus.
May your house be love.
Weeks 1-3 Resource Recap
Week 1 - HOPE
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First Week of Advent: The Art of Accompaniment and Hope
Dr. Kenneth Ortega, Ed.D.
Co-Chair, Faith Formation and Evangelization
You do not know where wisdom presents herself! A few weeks, I had an auto accident; luckily, no one injured. I am fully insured, minus the rental option on my policy. Since then, I have discovered another side of Chicago. The verse, “A people in darkness have seen a great light”, may not seem apparent on the CTA buses or trains. There is definitely people in darkness. Bundled from the cold, holding to possessions, or lonely amid others, commuters seem to drudge through daily life. Yet, there are moments of hope:
Let us walk as light amid darkness. Let us give hope in a culture so trodden by futility! Together, we are hope!
BTW: I do await the return of my car!
Peace
Ken Ortega, Ed.D.
Dr. Kenneth Ortega, Ed.D.
Co-Chair, Faith Formation and Evangelization
You do not know where wisdom presents herself! A few weeks, I had an auto accident; luckily, no one injured. I am fully insured, minus the rental option on my policy. Since then, I have discovered another side of Chicago. The verse, “A people in darkness have seen a great light”, may not seem apparent on the CTA buses or trains. There is definitely people in darkness. Bundled from the cold, holding to possessions, or lonely amid others, commuters seem to drudge through daily life. Yet, there are moments of hope:
- Commuters greeting the bus driver.
- Commuters thanking the bus driver for getting to their destinations safely.
- Children bringing joy to workers after a long day.
- Commuters accommodating persons in power wheelchairs.
- Offering seats.
- Picking items dropped by passengers.
- Shared laughter about a whimsical incident.
- A genuine smile.
- A playful dog.
- Squirrels playfully chasing each other.
- Friends laughing in a bar.
Let us walk as light amid darkness. Let us give hope in a culture so trodden by futility! Together, we are hope!
BTW: I do await the return of my car!
Peace
Ken Ortega, Ed.D.
Week 2 - PEACE
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Second Week of Advent: Being Peace
Tina Carter
Faith Formation and Evangelization Team Member
The second Sunday of Advent focuses on Peace and in the responsorial psalm for Sunday, we are reminded of “the peace that God speaks into His people”. This peace that flows from one person to another is where “mercy and truth have met each other, justice and peace have kissed, truth has sprung out of the earth and justice has looked down from heaven.” (Psalm 85:11- 12). It is a peace where there is no fear, no jealousy, no envy, no violence, no inequality, and all have what they need to survive and thrive in this world. Yet, the rivers of peace are being consistently blocked by the rocks, logs, and debris of a society where crime and gun violence are rampant, racism and sexism are becoming acceptable once again, and certain immigrants are treated like a problem that needs to be eradicated. The rivers of peace continue to be obstructed when the amount of financial wealth has more weight for a person than the content of their character. These issues create the toxic waters people drink from which causes sickness and death. During this season of Advent, let us take time to reflect on whether we want to be the peace that God speaks to His people and help create a world where that peace can live, love, and thrive or do we continue to allow the shackles of fear, jealousy, and greed block and poison the rivers of peace. As the song by Cary Landry reminds us “Peace is flowing like a river, flowing out of you and me, flowing out into the desert, making all the captives free”. Let the peace and love in each of us during this season of joyful waiting and preparation flow out of us to free us all.
Tina L Carter
Tina Carter
Faith Formation and Evangelization Team Member
The second Sunday of Advent focuses on Peace and in the responsorial psalm for Sunday, we are reminded of “the peace that God speaks into His people”. This peace that flows from one person to another is where “mercy and truth have met each other, justice and peace have kissed, truth has sprung out of the earth and justice has looked down from heaven.” (Psalm 85:11- 12). It is a peace where there is no fear, no jealousy, no envy, no violence, no inequality, and all have what they need to survive and thrive in this world. Yet, the rivers of peace are being consistently blocked by the rocks, logs, and debris of a society where crime and gun violence are rampant, racism and sexism are becoming acceptable once again, and certain immigrants are treated like a problem that needs to be eradicated. The rivers of peace continue to be obstructed when the amount of financial wealth has more weight for a person than the content of their character. These issues create the toxic waters people drink from which causes sickness and death. During this season of Advent, let us take time to reflect on whether we want to be the peace that God speaks to His people and help create a world where that peace can live, love, and thrive or do we continue to allow the shackles of fear, jealousy, and greed block and poison the rivers of peace. As the song by Cary Landry reminds us “Peace is flowing like a river, flowing out of you and me, flowing out into the desert, making all the captives free”. Let the peace and love in each of us during this season of joyful waiting and preparation flow out of us to free us all.
Tina L Carter
Week 3 - JOY
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Third Sunday of Advent: Joy
Patricia Tomich
Senior Director, Mission Integration
Isaiah boldly proclaims for the Third Sunday of Advent - The Spirit of God is upon me! Really? To have God’s Spirit upon me and you, God’s Spirit upon all of Creation. Just imagine us radiating love and light throughout our world.
Today we celebrate Gaudete Sunday–named for the entrance antiphon of Sunday’s Mass: “Rejoice (gaudete) in the Lord always, again I say, rejoice.” We enter the Third Week of Advent with the lighting of the rose candle of our wreath. The liturgical color ROSE symbolizes JOY. Notice how light penetrates the darkness as we draw closer to the birth of Jesus the Christ.
Listen! Do you hear JOY resounding throughout today’s Scripture Readings? Today we sing Mary’s song of praise. My soul rejoices in my God! The Almighty has done great things for me; Holy is God’s name. - God’s love and mercy surrounds us, it warms our hearts and illuminates our minds. We hear again and again God’s promise: St. Paul reminds the Thessalonians, Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice. Pray without ceasing, our God is near. God is present in this moment. Such hope-filled messages!
Today, in a world ruptured by division, war, violence, abandonment, conflict, anxiety, fear, brokenness, we too need reassurance that we are not alone. God is ever present, accompanying us throughout our lives.
This Holy Season of Light invites us to reflect how God is awakening our lives, dispelling our fears, stirring within us the message of joy. This week let us find time to enter a prayerful silence, and be attentive to the God who enters our lives.
Loving God, you enter the brokenness of our lives; enter our weary hearts more profoundly that we may grow in trust; dispel darkness and fear. Open our eyes to see you in those whom we encounter this week. Open our ears to hear the voice of those who need encouragement. God, you are LOVE. You entered our humanity in the person of Jesus, to show us how to live, and to share with us your divinity. Send forth your Spirit that we may radiate your love and light.
Patricia Tomich
Senior Director, Mission Integration
Isaiah boldly proclaims for the Third Sunday of Advent - The Spirit of God is upon me! Really? To have God’s Spirit upon me and you, God’s Spirit upon all of Creation. Just imagine us radiating love and light throughout our world.
Today we celebrate Gaudete Sunday–named for the entrance antiphon of Sunday’s Mass: “Rejoice (gaudete) in the Lord always, again I say, rejoice.” We enter the Third Week of Advent with the lighting of the rose candle of our wreath. The liturgical color ROSE symbolizes JOY. Notice how light penetrates the darkness as we draw closer to the birth of Jesus the Christ.
Listen! Do you hear JOY resounding throughout today’s Scripture Readings? Today we sing Mary’s song of praise. My soul rejoices in my God! The Almighty has done great things for me; Holy is God’s name. - God’s love and mercy surrounds us, it warms our hearts and illuminates our minds. We hear again and again God’s promise: St. Paul reminds the Thessalonians, Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice. Pray without ceasing, our God is near. God is present in this moment. Such hope-filled messages!
Today, in a world ruptured by division, war, violence, abandonment, conflict, anxiety, fear, brokenness, we too need reassurance that we are not alone. God is ever present, accompanying us throughout our lives.
This Holy Season of Light invites us to reflect how God is awakening our lives, dispelling our fears, stirring within us the message of joy. This week let us find time to enter a prayerful silence, and be attentive to the God who enters our lives.
Loving God, you enter the brokenness of our lives; enter our weary hearts more profoundly that we may grow in trust; dispel darkness and fear. Open our eyes to see you in those whom we encounter this week. Open our ears to hear the voice of those who need encouragement. God, you are LOVE. You entered our humanity in the person of Jesus, to show us how to live, and to share with us your divinity. Send forth your Spirit that we may radiate your love and light.
Walk Through the Four Weeks of Advent
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Advent Prayer Resource - Hallow!
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Learn About Advent TraditionsThe Jesse tree helps us connect the custom of decorating Christmas trees to the events leading to Jesus’ birth. The Jesse tree is named from Isaiah 11:1: “A shoot shall come out of the stock of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.” Jesse was the father of King David. We adorn a Jesse tree with illustrated ornaments that represent the people, prophesies, and events leading up to the birth of Jesus. The ornaments of the Jesse tree tell the story of God in the Old Testament, connecting the Advent season with the faithfulness of God across four thousand years of history.
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Posadas
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Feast of St. Nicholas
December 6
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Immaculate Conception
December 8
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Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
December 12
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Simbang Gabi
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Kwanzaa
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