SLOW DOWN!  You will never meet the infant king running so fast.

   Christmas is the hustle and bustle season.  We feel the need to move faster and get more done.  We need to remember… this is not the Christmas season yet.  This is Advent.  We are preparing for Christmas.  And the biggest preparation we are to make is to be ready to receive Jesus.  Making the house festive for His birthday is great, but if we are not ready to receive Him in our hearts, we are missing it entirely.

   At Christmas, Jesus became present to all of mankind.  Sure, He was in Mary’s womb for 9 months, but He was hidden there.  Now out of the womb, our Savior makes Himself present to mankind.  Are we busy still making the stable ready?  Are we making everything beautiful for Jesus without seeing the beauty of Jesus in our midst?  He is a vulnerable child, and we can care for Him within our hearts.

   Wait, really “care for Him within our hearts”?  YES!  Jesus wants to dwell in our hearts.  For Advent, we are first and foremost supposed to provide a proper dwelling place for Jesus in our hearts.  At Christmas, Jesus is vulnerable infant, but Jesus is also vulnerable in the Eucharist.  When we receive communion, we must provide Jesus a proper dwelling place.  He comes into our bodies, physically and spiritually.  It is not the dead Jesus we receive.  NO!  He has been raised.  We receive the “holy and living sacrifice” of Jesus’ resurrected body.

   Mary, you contemplated the mysteries of God you witnessed in your heart, may your Immaculate Heart help us to prepare our hearts to receive Jesus this Christmas.  Help us to rid our hearts of all thorns of sin to be a proper dwelling place for Him who made you and set the stars spinning in the Heavens.  Amen