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Advent 2010 is barely upon us, but in the world outside the Catholic Church, it has been Christmas for weeks now.

That's the commercial Christmas, the "how-many-shopping-days-until" Christmas. Is this the most secular time of the year?

What is Advent? Debate surrounds Advent: Should we sing Christmas carols? Is Advent a penitential time like Lent, but to a lesser degree?

Is the purple of Advent different from Lent's purple? Why do some Advent Christians use blue? Should the Advent wreath be suspended overhead in our parish or placed in an unnoticed corner?

Do we pretend, in Advent, that Christ has not come? Is Advent the time for us to become Puritans who banned the celebration of Christmas?

The Greek "phone" means a sound, a cry, a voice, as well as speech, discourse and language. We find it in words like "telephone" (sound over a long distance), "megaphone" (literally a big sound) and "microphone" (a little sound). It also provides us with the word "phonetics."

We need an Advent phone. Advent has many voices: Isaiah, John the Baptist, Mary. Spend time with those voices this Advent.

Advent is the liturgy's alarm clock, calling us to wake from sleep. Why not ring a special bell each day of Advent? Place your Advent bell in the kitchen, on the table or by the stove, near the radio or by your alarm clock.

Bells announce hours of prayer. Ring the Advent bell once a day and pray the Angelus.

Outside the house, every time you hear a secular Christmas song at the mall, in the store, in the car or on the radio, pray a "Hail Mary." Embrace the discipline of "lectio divina," a form of meditation (see separate story): Listen, understand, reflect, pray and act.

The last thing to do is to spend Advent haranguing that there is a war against Christmas. We can redeem Advent by making a new sound.

We can live Advent by embracing the special opportunities that open up in this graced season. It is not wise to ban the celebration of Christmas in any season. Celebrate the weeks leading up to the nativity of the Lord!

(Father Rosson is pastor of St. Mary's/Our Lady of the Lake parish in Cooperstown.)

The Angelus
The Angel of the Lord declared to Mary: And she conceived of the Holy Spirit. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Behold the handmaid of the Lord: Be it done unto me according to Thy word. (Hail Mary...)

And the Word was made Flesh: And dwelt among us. (Hail Mary...)

Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray: Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts; that we, to whom the incarnation of Christ, Thy Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection, through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.

(11/25/10) [[In-content Ad]]

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