Making the Most of Advent

Advent is here. Are you ready? What should you be doing spiritually to prepare for Christmas? Dan and Melissa discuss ways we can prepare our hearts for Christmas during Advent with devotional ideas and lots of resources.

Topics/Questions covered in the show:

• Why is Advent so important in the liturgical calendar?
• How does imagery, like icons and manger scenes, help to orient our hearts toward God?
• How does the Old Testament help us understand Advent?
• How can we get the longing for Jesus that we want during Advent?
• Why is Advent considered a penitential season?
• Daily Mass readings and the Liturgy of the Hours as extra devotionals during Advent.
• Preparing your heart before Mass.
• Why is confession so important during Advent?
• What devotional elements are essential in spiritual preparation for Christmas?

Resources:

• Divine Intimacy Radio on spiritualdirection.com website
• Avila Institute for Spiritual Formation
• Discovering Christ - Spiritual growth program, a seven-week experience that invites guests to hear the Good News and personally encounter Jesus Christ
• Divine Intimacy - Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D.
• The Four Last Things - Catholic Culture link
• How do I Set Up a Home Altar? - post on spiritualdirection.com
• iBreviary (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Android, Kindle Fire, Windows Phone 7, Blackberry, mobile version, widgets): Contains the Liturgy of the Hours and also all the readings from the Mass
• United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) website - subscribe to Daily Readings
• Links to Episcopal Conferences - Catholic News Agency links to countries or regions with Bishops' Conferences around the globe; scroll down for links throughout the world (the USCCB link also has links to Bishops' Conferences in various states)
• The Vatican Website - official website of The Holy See; to view the Vatican Website in a different language, click on the box in the top right hand corner where it says English, then scroll down to the language that you would like to use
• 1 Corinthians 11:27 - "Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord."
• Matthew 7:21-23 - "...I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers."
• Dynamic Catholic - subscribe to Best Advent Ever
• Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy - NewAdvent.org
• Magnificat Advent Companion - softcover book
• Magnificat Advent Companion - ebooks
• On The Incarnation - Athanasius of Alexandria
• EWTN Television Schedule
• EWTN Religious Catalogue
• Onething 2015 - Dan Burke speaking engagement, Kansas City (Dec. 28-31)
• 1 Thessalonians 5:23 - "May the God of peace himself make you perfectly holy and may you entirely, spirit, soul, and body, be preserved blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." - USCCB Bible link
• Questions? Send an e-mail to [email protected] or call 818-646-7729.