Advent Reflection by Julia Coben '20

As soon as Thanksgiving passes, we all begin to prepare for Christmas. Our lights are now up, our trees are decorated, we shop for those we love. It is exciting, yet can become tedious and consuming. However, Christ calls us to celebrate the advent season in a more spiritual and fulfilling sense. As stated in John 1:9-10 “The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.” These very first words of John’s Gospel invite us to welcome Jesus into our lives this Christmas and always. He explains that although Jesus was coming into the world, he was always in the world, we just failed to recognize him. This is extremely significant when referring to the holiday season, Jesus has always been here with us but sometimes we fail to celebrate him daily. This advent season, I am going to try and focus on the reason we have the Christmas season, to grow closer to Christ so we may let Him into our hearts and our lives on Christmas morning.