Originally published at Churchpop
Advent is a time of joyful expectation.
With the celebration of Christmas anticipated throughout the month of December, it can be hard to know what to do spiritually to prepare.
Do we sacrifice things and do penance? Should we fast while most people feast?
Loving Presence, the Advent Challenge on the Exodus 90 app, proposes concrete ways to embrace a joyful asceticism that can give Advent a distinct expression.
1) Growing in Hope
Why do we pray and sing for Emmanual to come when he came 2,000 years ago?
Advent places us back within Israel’s hope for a Savior because the world still needs His peace and loving presence among us. We read the Book of Isaiah and pray through the ancient prophecies knowing that we, too, must grow in hope for all that the newborn Messiah continues to bring into the world.
2) Incarnational Prayer
Catholics traditionally pray the Angelus three times a day, but it’s all the more fitting to do so during Advent because it focuses on the Incarnation:
“And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.”
Praying the Angelus and other prayers, such as Saint Andrew’s Novena and the Marian antiphon “Alma Redemptoris Mater,” keeps our minds focused on the
