Advent Welcome

Kellenberg Memorial and Chaminade High School students pause after
delivering, boxing and sorting the annual toiletry donations
at the Little Sisters of the Poor, Queen of Peace Residence.

Our two Marianist high schools and St. Martin DePorres Marianist School are in a full Advent season already. Both high schools have gathered for their annual Advent Prayer services where the Advent theme is set for the schools.

Our minds are full, our calendars are packed, our expectations are low, so we're not actively looking and seeking for the living Christ in our midst. We're too busy and our minds are too occupied; without even noticing we push Jesus away. And Jesus cries, "Wake up!"

Kellenberg Memorial pause after their Advent Prayer
Service held at the beginning of the season.

Advent comes with the invitation to open our hearts and minds to the arrival of the Christ. If Jesus knocks on the door of our lives, we want to be awake enough to invite him inside. We often get lulled into the complacency of "we have always done it that way." Are we going through life the same way? Are we actively looking for the Christ in the person that we greet in homeroom, or at the store or on the street or even in our own home? Will we be alert enough to recognize the surprising Christ who arrived not in a palace but in a tucked-away manger? How will the Christ come to us, and will we recognize him when he does? What can we do during Advent to be more intentional about welcoming the Christ into our lives?