Making Room for Christ

In secular society, the month of December is often spent decorating, shopping, baking, wrapping, and busily preparing for the momentous day of Christmas.  As Christians, though, we know that the true joy of Christmas does not come from giving or receiving presents, indulging in special foods, or watching our favorite classic movies on television.  No, we instead recognize Advent as a season of joyful anticipation and preparation for the coming of Christ.  But, what does this really mean?

After Mass today, I was reflecting with some people from church on this very topic - what it means to prepare for Christ.  A friend posed the simple and yet thought-provoking question - well, how do we prepare for other events in our lives?  The wheels in my head began turning, and I immediately thought back to the past week during which I prepared for my dear friend Tara to visit my apartment.  I lived in community with Tara last year, and this would be the first time she would visit me in my new (temporary) home.  In anticipation of her arrival I diligently cleaned my apartment, stocked up on coffee and treats I hoped she would enjoy, triple-checked train schedules so I would be on time to pick her up, made arrangements for us to visit with my new community members, and did any other little thing I could think of to make sure that when she arrived I would be ready and she would feel welcomed.

I did all of these things because I love Tara very much, and I felt so grateful she would travel for hours just to see me on this special holiday.  While I knew Tara would in no way be judgmental or picky, and that she would politely accept any accommodations I offered her, I wanted only the best.  In thinking on this today, I was left with the question - if I have done this much for a friend, how much more should I do for Christ?

I suppose I've never had a really strong experience of Advent.  I didn't grow up surrounded by a faith tradition, and what I have learned about Advent since coming into Catholicism has come from a weekly attendance at Mass or from formalized lessons in the classroom.  Today is perhaps the first time that the season has really touched my heart, and the first time I have felt genuinely moved to take action in preparing for Christ.  Just as I swept out cobwebs, filled my cabinets, and set a place for Tara in my home, what now must I clear out of my heart and bring in anew so that Christ may find a suitable dwelling place when he comes again?

These questions are still weighing on my heart, and I do not yet have the answers.  I felt compelled to write this out and share it with those who might stumble upon it, so that other hearts might be opened and we might share in this process of discernment together.