💫💫💫Too often society places pressure for the perfect “holiday” season:

🔷all the gifts must be precisely wrapped and laden under the Christmas tree in a tidy order,

🔷the Christmas meal has to be cooked to the exact temperature and paired with the appropriate side dishes depending on the main dish,

🔷 family members need to behave–especially your “estranged/weird” uncle [or aunt or other unique relative you may have].

The Perfection Pitfall

⚜️Honestly, I fall into this fallacy almost every year myself.

⚜️This year was no different. Stomach flu, toddler tantrums, and lack of sleep dominated the weeks leading up to my Advent.

⚜️I struggled at times to see the purpose in the pain. Going to Sunday Mass helped reorient me back to the right path.

Reason for the Season

⚜️The season of Advent is not about preparing for the “perfect” Christmas where Mary and Joseph get a room at the inn.

⚜️Rather, Advent is about preparing for the birth of Jesus Christ. His birth took place in the messiness of the stable, his Passion and Death took place on the messiness of the Cross.

⚜️Not everything in my life will be neatly fit in my control. The same was true for the Holy Family.

Reflection Questions

❓Is you reaction to unplanned events similar to the humble reaction of Jesus, Mary, & Joseph?

❓How have you prepared your soul for Joy?