thepath2eternity

Advent 2023 is approaching. The way Thanksgiving fell on the calendar this year, there emerged a few precious days of waiting for the season of waiting. Just enough time to gather my thoughts about what
to focus on and how best to honor our coming Lord. I knew right away it would be through the concept
of family.

This past year has been a valuable and hard-learned lesson in the importance of family. We have
experienced loving across distance as parents moved away and children left the nest. We felt the full brief cycle of life as a father passed on and new godchildren were born. All while wrestling with the world over what family even means and seeing evil attempt to destroy it.

What other soul work could be more important during this Advent than strengthening the bonds of
family by attentively focusing on the most beautiful example ever given to us, the Holy Family?

First, I turn towards Mary. The mother is without argument the heart of the family, essential to the life of the entire being. And this particular Mother, she is the heart of the Holy Family and the Church family, as well. Daughter of God the Father, Mother of God the Son, Spouse of the Holy Ghost. She answers every question and calms every concern. We already know she is how Christ comes to the world, where else would we wait to see Him? May her heart beat at the center of every family, bringing Him right into the core of who we are and healing us from the inside out.

It’s been on my heart for over a year now to honor Our Lady in a special way during Advent, without
getting distracted by all the other things. I’ve found the best way to stay focused is to surround myself
with the sentiment. Is this not why the whole world is already dripping with bright Christmas decorations and music? Especially in America, we seem to be a culture of going all in to get what we want. Drown me in Christmas joy!! But alas, it is not Christmas yet. It is the season of waiting, and I want to wait with her.

I hesitantly tiptoe into the realm of decorating, careful not to get tangled up in flying reindeer and
tinsel and too-early celebrations, lest I lose sight of reality and the true state of things. The world is
actually in dire need of a Savior, even as it drapes itself in pre-holiday cheer. I’d rather go all in with full intentions of surrounding myself with sentiments of motherhood, the heart and beginning of a family waiting for an Infant.

My small “early” tree is dripping with blues and whites. I’m making Marian themed ornaments inspired by her Rosary…the prayers that echo the moment of His Conception when the Angel said, “Hail Mary, full of grace,” and we’re reminded of the fruit of her womb, Jesus. With sweet flowers to bring a slight smile to a mother’s face and quiet, soft lights that hint at silent nights of waiting for Someone worth pondering in your heart for all of eternity.

The next several weeks, as I pass by that tree completing every motherly task to prepare for the holidays, I hope it triggers many meditations on what it means to be a mother. What a gift from God! And how should I respond to that gift? What can I learn about Mary and through Mary regarding how to engage in the vocation of motherhood, how to honor, help, and support every mother I encounter, and how to teach my daughter to be a mother? If we can look at mothers through the prism of Mary, with the same love and intentions that God must have (for He came to us through a mother), we will have no further confusion or doubt of what family truly means.

What would this next year be like if we let Mary fill in every gap we feel in the realm of motherhood? She will strengthen the bonds of family inside our very own homes, within our churches and communities, and across time and distance. And when it’s time to celebrate the birth of Our Savior, we’ll be perfectly in the same sentiment as He was over two thousand years ago, swaddled safe and warm in the arms of His Most Holy Mother, contentedly listening to the heartbeat of the Holy Family.

Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us and for our families.