It’s common for us to walk into these liturgical seasons with hopeful expectations. In years past, I know I’ve personally clung to my own expectations both of the Advent season and those that I place upon myself.
What happens when those expectations are broken? When things aren’t as perfect as expected? When unexpected suffering takes place?
Thankfully, the Advent season isn’t about how productive we are, or how perfect it looks, or what we do or don’t do. It’s about welcoming the Infant Jesus into our hearts, and allowing Him to be born anew in us. We have our Blessed Mother Mary and Saint Joseph's example to follow.
The Messiness is the Entry Point
We can look at certain images or paintings of the Nativity, and assume that it was perfect. In a way, it was. Not because of the way that it looked, but because of the miracle that took place. When we take a closer look, we see that it wasn’t necessarily “ideal.”
“She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7).
Mary didn’t have a sterile and cozy environment in which to give birth. She and Joseph were rejected by the innkeepers. She didn’t have a bed or a warm blanket. There weren’t any nurses or doctors helping her. Yet despite the circumstances, one of the most miraculous events took place in the messiest of environments.
Instead of seeing our circumstances, our messiness, and our hearts as an obstacle to Jesus, what if we saw them as the entry point? The entry point into something beautiful, something miraculous. The first Christmas was messy and holy.
The messiness was the entry point. What would it look like if we invited Jesus into our circumstances?
Fix Our Gaze Upon Him
The miracle of Baby Jesus being born didn’t change the physical environment or the uncomfortable surroundings, but it changed hearts. The hearts of the shepherds were changed when they fixed their gaze upon Him. Jesus was the miracle in their messiness.
In the midst of a messy Advent or during unexpected suffering, we might be tempted to grasp and attempt to fix the situation in our own power. Along with inviting Him into our circumstances, what if we also looked at the Infant Jesus? If just for a moment, we shifted our gaze from the circumstances, to the face of Baby Jesus?
It’s not that Baby Jesus will mend everything in an instant, but He will change our hearts. As He was a helpless babe, Who relied on Mary and Joseph for everything He needed, let us borrow His beautiful posture of allowing Himself to be taken care of.
Allow the Lord to hold you. Allow Him to nurture you. Allow yourself to be loved and be uplifted by Him. Let us rely on the Lord Who withholds nothing from us. Who knows our every need, every cry of our heart. Who holds our entire life in His hands.
Shift your gaze upon the One Who has come to save. Rely on Him.
Bring It All to Him
Even when our exterior life seems hectic, we can enter into our interior life. Through prayer, we can go into our inner room, our inner stable, and find Jesus. Come adore Him; come spend time with Him in silence and solitude. Allow Him to fill your heart.
We have permission to enter into the stable of our hearts and ask the Infant Jesus to bring about new life into us and our lives, even beyond the Advent season.
We can follow Mary and Joseph this Advent season on their journey to Bethlehem. They’ll show us how to hope. They’ll show us that God always has a plan, even when things don’t go the way that we expect or when our expectations are broken. They’ll show us how to fix our gaze and our hearts upon Jesus, to seek Beauty in the mess.
To not just look at Him, but give Him the treasure of our heart. You have permission to speak to Him honestly, sharing all of your pain, struggles, and disappointments. He wants all of our hearts. Your heart and vulnerability are gifts to Him.
On the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, let us entrust the remainder of this liturgical season to our Lady and Saint Joseph. Let us ask for their intercession and guidance to receive the miracle of their Son, our Savior, our Bridegroom.
Let Us Pray
Dearest Mother Mary and Saint Joseph, we humbly ask you to draw our hearts near to your Son. In our messiness, in our circumstances, in our suffering, may we choose the same posture as the both of you: to fix our gaze upon Jesus and to give Him the gift of our hearts. Help us to allow Him to birth new life into our hearts. May our focus remain upon Him in all circumstances. Amen.
Bella Rol is a college student from Monterey, CA. She is studying Early Childhood Education as she pursues her dream of working with children and one day having her own to care for. In the meantime, she is the big sister to three younger brothers. In her free time she is usually found with her sketchbook and art supplies as she doodles away.
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