Looking for Advent ideas to try with your family? I love Advent! If you deliberately celebrate Advent, you get the joy of preparing for Christmas, without becoming tired of the pre-Christmas hype. Now that my children are starting their own families, I think about the...
Need time to slow down as we approach Christmas? Need a way to enter into Advent on a daily basis with weekly accountability and community? Join Catholic-Link Connect as we allow Christ to enter our hearts this Advent season with Heather Khym’s book Encountering...
This year, Advent begins on Sunday, Dec 1, 2024, and will end on Tuesday, Dec 24, 2024. Before Advent begins, take some time to create a plan that will prepare your heart to celebrate the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Advent is a season inviting us to step away...
If there is one thing every Catholic knows, it’s that Christmas Mass is one of most chaotic Masses of the year. Often the parking lot is overflowing and the pews are jam-packed with people. Not to mention the sheer madness that can ensue when trying to get everyone...
Royalty, penance, and sacrifice– purple is the liturgical color used during the Season of Advent. Purple represents a time of preparation before the important celebration of Christmas. But why is there also a pink candle on the Advent Wreath? One of only two “pink”...
With Christmas on a Monday this year, you'll need to get creative about when you go to Mass. Here are some options to get you thinking about how to spend this Holy Day! Christmas Mass Strategy Image Created By: Christify Artworks | Project Catholic
The moment we open our eyes the day after Thanksgiving (and oftentimes even before), we are inundated with reindeer, gingerbread, gifts, elves, and Santa. Though these things are not inherently bad, if we do not keep our Christmas season properly ordered, it is all...
2023 saw a musical release of the Nativity Story, which I critiqued in a previous review. A different musical, Spirited, released on Apple+, and was enjoyed by audiences in 2022. I recently had the opportunity to reflect about the musical and enjoy it on a dark and...
As I walked from the campus library to my dorm with my roommate, we discussed our plans for the weekend. It was a temperate December day in Southwest Florida at Ave Maria University. “Don’t forget!'' My roommate reminded, “Advent begins this weekend. Let’s go to the...
Expectant waiting. This is a notion– when considered through the lens of modernity– that seems like a foreign concept from the days of yore. The world is available at the slight extension of the fingertips. Objects of both necessity and desire can be purchased with...
Advent: the season most Catholics would like to honor more appropriately but find it difficult to do so with the commercial Christmas creeping in all around. But when we do celebrate Advent it is totally worth it— both for the value in the season in and of itself, but...
You could listen to Michael Bublé and Mariah Carey to get you in the Christmas spirit. That might get you into a hot cocoa and snow angels mood, but “All I Want for Christmas is You” won’t prepare you for the coming of the Lord, during the Advent season. An...
This year, Advent begins on Sunday, December 3, 2023, and will end on Saturday, December 24, 2023. This means the fourth week of Advent will be just a day! Advent will go by even faster than usual so preparation is key to making the most of this time. Take some time...
An Advent pre-game is coming to theaters in November, helping Christians and moviegoers to reflect on the mystery of the incarnation before the Christmas season. Journey to Bethlehem is a unique musical reproduction of the Nativity story, which admits at the end that...
The Shepherds of Bethlehem are not really glamorous. They’re easy to take for granted. They’re not interesting exotic wizards from a distant land. They’re not powerful kings or tyrannical rulers. They’re just ordinary, working folks. Sure, they claimed to see a choir...
Gospel of Matthew 1:18-24 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph,but before they lived together,she was found with child through the Holy Spirit.Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man,yet unwilling to...
Las Posadas is an Advent tradition begun by Hispanic Catholics in the 16th century. Las Posadas means “the Inns,” and like a typical novena lasting nine days, the celebration spans the nine days before Christmas. Though it does involve knocking on doors and...
Gospel of Matthew 9:35-10 Jesus went around to all the towns and villages,teaching in their synagogues,proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom,and curing every disease and illness. At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for thembecause they were...
Take time this week to create a plan that will help you prepare the way for the birth of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Advent is a season for stepping back from the hectic pre-Christmas routine of the world and slowing down to contemplate the Mystery of the...
Did you know that each month has a traditional Catholic devotion? This year, let’s focus on each devotion month-by-month to grow in our faith and traditions! Make yourself notes, write it on your calendar, and pray a specific prayer each day of the month to remember....
Are you ready for Advent? Before you know it, it will be here! This year, Advent begins on November 27 and will end Friday, December 24. Take the time now to prepare a plan that will help you prepare the way for the birth of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. If...
Do you remember this past Lent, when we all had that “can-do” spirit to celebrate Holy Week and Easter in the best way possible given our lockdown reality? The bursts of creativity, the flurry of activity on social media, the daily Zoom lessons we learned. ...
Looking for Advent resources for your Catholic family? Advent is a time of preparing your heart for the celebration of Christ’s birth and growing in holiness, yet the hustle and bustle of the holidays can keep us from these things if we are not careful. Begin...
