How to Advent

Hallmark Channel movies carry a Christmas theme...holiday parades celebrate the upcoming arrival of Santa Claus...and stores are bustling with pre-Christmas sales. I do believe that Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year, but sometimes I get ahead of myself. I go "all in" on the Christmas celebration without proper preparation. As a result, my Christmas is less meaningful than it should be.

Thankfully, this year can be different, thanks to a wonderful program called "How to Advent." The Augustine Institute has created a four-part video series that focuses our attention on the true meaning of the Advent season.

A featured presenter in How to Advent, Dr. Scott Hefelfinger, Director of Content Development at the Augustine Institute, puts it this way: “All too often, our culture sees it simply as the four hectic weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas, rather than a time for reflection and spiritual preparation.  It can be a struggle for Catholics to approach the season with intentionality.”

Each 8-10 minute episode of the series focuses on a different Advent tradition: the Advent Calendar, Advent Wreath, Jesse Tree, and Nativity Scene. The videos are available through the Catholic platform known as Formed and the Formed app.

I highly recommend this series to get your Advent off to a great supernatural start!