A Letter From Our Pastor: Do This One Thing to Have the BEST CHRISTMAS EVER

Dear Parish Family,

I was attending a gathering of priests and we were going around the room introducing ourselves and telling everyone, “What is your favorite season?” Some said Summer, some said Autumn or Spring; one brave soul said Winter. The last priest in the circle said, “Advent.” None of us had thought to name a season of the Church’s liturgical year. But why would he have chosen Advent over Christmas, Easter, or even Lent? Advent is the season that barely exists. It starts on the last Sunday of November when the stores have already been playing Christmas music for weeks. The Church encourages us to “slow down” but the world is telling us to “hurry up!” We bake, buy, decorate, party, all in preparation for Christmas Day. And then it’s all over suddenly, leaving us with more stuff, more weight, and more tired and a little more depressed than before. I’ve been mulling over this problem since my childhood. I distinctly remember the anticipation of the presents, the difficulty sleeping, the joy of running downstairs to a room full of shiny wrapping paper, and then in the afternoon feeling a vague but real sense of disappointment… Is this all there is? Where did the Christmas magic go?

I found an answer in the most unlikely place: pilgrimages. Most of us think of a pilgrimage as a trip to a distant country. You fly overseas, stay in a hotel, ride a bus to a Marian apparition site or famous shrine, and hope to receive some insight or blessing, some “aha” moment at the shrine. Previous generations experienced the pilgrimage as a walk, on foot, sleeping at hostels on the way. In the Spring of 2005, while attending seminary in Rome, I made a short 100 km (62 mi) pilgrimage on the “El Camino” to the shrine of St. James. I was hooked! I have since led 11 walking pilgrimages here in the USA. I can tell you from personal experience that it’s a much, much different experience. Being “out on the road” and sleeping in church basements, having only what you carry on your back, changes you in ways you would never expect. You start to notice God’s presence, “on the way,” in the people you walk with, in His providence, and even within yourself.

One day I had an “aha” moment of my own. We’ve gotten in the habit of riding the busy “Christmas bus,” stepping off at the “shrine” on Christmas Day, and hoping to find an “aha moment” there. But Holy Mother Church designed Advent to be like a walking pilgrimage. She invites you into quiet prayer each day, which makes you more aware of the simple, humble presence of God in your daily life. When you get to Christmas, you’ve already had lots of little “aha” moments which begin to add up to a beautiful, profound, and life-changing experience of the humble love of God present in your daily life. This is why I wrote Oriens: A Pilgrimage Through Advent and Christmas. There are many other Advent resources you can choose from. The important thing is to make a time, and a place, for prayer each day. Slow down for just a few minutes each day, and perhaps Advent will become your favorite season, too.

Your brother in Christ,

Fr. Joel Sember, Pastor

Fr. Joel Sember, Pastor