December 2, 2018

Advent Week 1

Contrary to a popular belief, Advent is a penitential season in preparation for the Joy of Christmas.  One sure sign is the Church uses the color purple which is... the penitential liturgical color. 

From the "Advent is Coming" worksheet:

ADVENT IS COMING 

The  four  weeks of Advent  are set  apart  by  the Church  to  commemorate the ages that intervened between the fall of our first parents and the birth of Christ which we celebrate at Christmas. It is a Season of special prayer and penance mingled with joyful expectation, and calculated to prepare our souls for a worthy  keeping  of  this  great  solemnity.  Advent  is  also  the  beginning  of  the ecclesiastical  year,  and  as  each  succeeding  year  brings  us  closer  to  the  Second Coming of Christ as Judge of the world, this holy time is likewise intended to make us  ready  to  meet  our  Judge.  Such  preparation  is  best  achieved  by  seeking sanctification through voluntary amendment of life, acts of penance, and works of charity. 

Do not let this time to Grow in Holiness Pass You By!! 

Consider the following categories on what we should do for Advent this year.

1.  VOLUNTARY  AMENDMENT  OF  LIFE:  Give  up  those  things  that  need  to  go  sooner  or  later, namely bad habits. Our goal here is to learn to love our souls more than our bodies… to break
a  bad habit forever  and  Advent  is  a  good  time  to  do  it.  Examples:  Gossiping,  surfing  the  web without  real  need,  watching  T.V.,  overeating,  eating  between  meals,  eating  and  drinking  junk foods (e.g., soda), bad drinking habits, complaining, saying vulgar words, not getting up on time, using  a  snooze  alarm,  wasting  time  playing  video  games,  going  to  movies,  listening  to  base music, useless chattering on facebook, blogs, and the like, etc. 

In this category I am going to give up ________________________________

2. ACTS OF PENANCE: Perform some kind of penance. Our goal here is to train ourselves to say
“no” in little things so that we can say “NO” to big temptations later. We can resume doing the
things given up here once Advent is over. Examples: Avoid eating or drinking something that we
enjoy, such as desserts. Give up eating out, taking completely warm showers, drinking alcoholic
beverages, etc... 

In this category I am going to give up  _____________________________________

3. WORKS OF CHARITY: Perform some good and holy action(s). Our goal here is to strengthen
our relationship with Christ and His Church. Ideally,  what we start here would  continue  in
some way even after Advent is over. Love God more than yourself! Examples: Pray the Rosary
everyday, attend daily Mass as much as possible, read the Sacred Scriptures _______ minutes a
day,  spend  _______  additional  time  everyday  with  my  family,  read  a  life  of  a  saint  or  saints, increase  spiritual  reading  in  place  of  electronic  media,  make  a  daily  visit  to  the  Most  Blessed Sacrament or shrine of Our Lady.

In this category I am going to  _____________________________________________

May God bless you this Advent!

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