Here's a Great Way to Prepare Your Kids for Advent
November 9, 2009 by Patrick Madrid
Filed under Patrick's Blog
All Catholic parents who are serious about wanting to raise their children strong in the Faith understand how important it is to ensure that they enter as deeply as possible into the spirit and meaning of the Church’s liturgical seasons.
Lent and Advent are the two most dramatic times of preparation in the Church calendar, and so Catholic children should be taught how to experience at least as much (actually, far more) excitement and anticipation for the Nativity of the Lord during the Advent season as they do for receiving presents on Christmas. The former (the gift of the Incarnation and birth of Christ) is the foundation on which the entire gospel of Christ rests, and the latter (getting stuff for Christmas) is irrelevant and often the primary, if note sole, focus of most children between now and Christmas.
There’s an excellent new set of tools for Catholic parents who are really serious about helping their kids prepare well for this blessed event: The Holy Heroes Advent Adventure. I personally know and admire the people behind this apostolate and, while I am in no way involved or associated with the organization and derive no benefit of any kind from them, I can vouch for their orthodoxy, quality, and the effectiveness of their materials for the kiddos.
So please watch the video (preferably with your children), check out their website and, if you are so inclined, tell them Patrick Madrid sent you.
Neat. I'd love to see more made of Advent and Lent in families. When I was a kid we had an Advent wreath and our own family services before bed-time.
I have a couple of books on Lulu – Christmas! Genesis to Revelation in 100 words a day, and Easter! Creation to Salvation in 100 words a day – aimed at helping families put the whole story back into the festivals.