Advent Calendar

✉️ Subscribe for Email Updates

Can you guess the six letter word that is appropriate for this season?

Play!

Guess the word based on this week's quotes.

Play!

Luke 2:17-18

17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. —Luke 2:17-18

Good news is not to be kept to ourselves. When we have ascertained its truth, we are to tell it to oth...

Luke 2:20

20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. —Luke 2:20

Be much in the angelic work of praise. Praising God is the activity of angels and saints in heaven. It will be our own everlasting work, and, if we were no...

Luke 2:8-12

8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold,...

On the Incarnation

How shall I describe this birth to you? For this wonder fills me with astonishment. The Ancient of Days has become an infant. He who sits upon the sublime and heavenly throne, now lies in a manger. And he who cannot be touched, who is simple, without complexity, and incorporea...

This week we'll focus on saints of the past.

He found no room in the Holy of Holies that shone with gold, precious stones, pure silk, and silver. He is not born in the midst of gold and riches but in the midst of dung, in a stable, where our sins were filthier than the dung. He is born on a dung...

Can you guess the seven-letter word that Mary uses in Luke 1?

Play!

"Yes, Mary knew."

Read more

"Sometimes I wonder if the real Mary will ever break out of the ancient paintings that domesticated her. Every time I roll past Luke 1 in my Bible reading, I’m struck again by her extraordinary prayer, worthy of the Old Testament prophets. Two thousand years later, our generation calls her blessed....

High-Expectations Parent

Which item will the infant pick? The pen, the money, or the ball? “Wow, look how fast she runs! I think she’s going to be sporty, like her mother.”

We are naturally curious about what children will grow up to be like. For Mary, it was pretty clear who Jesus would be befo...

"It’s likely that Mary worked exclusively inside the home as a wife and mother. What can her vocation tell us about our own? At least three things."

Read more

This week we'll focus on Mary's role in Christmas. We begin by considering the virgin birth.

(Note: Pick up your copy of Is Christmas Unbelieveable? at church!)

(Bonus: hear Festive Fred read in different languages.)

"After I met Jesus in my senior year of high school my life was radically changed. What I wish I had known in high school is how to embrace and even welcome the waiting that comes with beginning to walk alongside the Lord. When I reflect on my life then and my life now I see the power of waiting and...

"It was Christmas Eve; and after Peter had carefully hung his stocking by the fireplace, he went off to bed. Usually Peter did not like to go to bed early, but tonight he was eager to get to sleep so he could wake up early to see his gifts."

Read more ...

Celebrate the waiting!

Read "Why Celebrate Advent?"

This week we'll focus on the theme of waiting. We begin by reflecting on Anna.

The most easily missed person in the Christmas story is the last one mentioned—Anna.

Read "The Anticipatory Waiting of Advent"

Advent is a four-week season in the Church calendar dedicated to anticipating the arrival, or "advent," of Jesus of Nazareth, the long-awaited Messiah and King. (source)

This Advent calendar will feature a curated variety of articles, quotes, and videos to help us prepare for Christmas.

Jo...