Sometimes we choose our journeys, and sometimes they choose us.
Sometimes you know the destination but you’re not quite sure how you’ll get there.
Sometimes you blink and suddenly discover you’re almost at your destination.
Sometimes journeys are smooth, and sometimes they’re painful. But they all lead somewhere—and often to exactly where we ought to be. At the beginning, though, we can’t always see where we are going, how we will get there, and who we will become along the way.
That’s how Advent can be. We might start with a plan—maybe a Bible reading each night, going to Mass or praying a Rosary more often. Then one day we realize we are skidding downhill toward Christmas, and we haven’t even pulled the Advent wreath out of the closet.
I like to remember that a humble Advent journey is just fine.
After all, Mary and Joseph set out on foot with a donkey. The Blessed Mother must have been so tired as she waited for the Christ Child to be born. St. Joseph was putting all his trust in God and in the words of an angel, who encouraged him to stay the course.
Nothing about their Advent journey was easy. They almost certainly would have chosen to welcome Jesus in the comfort of home and family. But their faith and their trust were in God. They were open to his plan. So, they traveled far to a place where the only hospitality they could find was an offer to stay in a crude stable full of animals.
It was humble, and it was magnificent. The shepherds came, and the Star of Bethlehem shone, and the angels sang.
I don’t know how Advent is going for you. I can’t even tell you how mine is going—though the candles that I ordered too late for the start of Advent have finally arrived. But I hope we can continue moving toward Christmas embracing this time as an opportunity, rather than as a test or a requirement.
Christmas will come. Jesus will be born again in our hearts. We have the chance to wait and pray and prepare ourselves—being open to how that might look this year.
However this season takes shape for you, with whatever twists and turns, may we encounter Advent as a beautiful invitation—an invitation to walk with God, to seek a closer relationship with Jesus, to find time for prayer, and to embrace hope.
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