To be awake means to be conscious of your circumstances and surroundings. It also means facing reality. In the spiritual life, the reality to be faced is twofold: Our human frailty and sinfulness and our God who refuses to remain indifferent to our plight; and therefore, who always gives us reason to have hope! Advent comes with an invitation to open our eyes to both of these realities. It is not a time to escape into nostalgia or pretend that Jesus wasn't born yet. On the contrary, Advent is an invitation to STOP pretending. It's a time to be honest with yourself, your loved ones and your God.

Christmas 2005 could be the most meaningful Christmas you've had in a very long time! But this will only be the case if you enter into Advent honestly and with an open heart. With Isaiah, don't be afraid to say to God: "We are sinful. our guilt carries us away like the wind.but you O LORD, are our father; we are the clay and you the potter.." Entrust yourself into the skillful hands of God because nobody can wrap a GIFT like he can! If you do, the most important gift to be exchanged this Christmas will not be the one you exchange with your co-workers, but the newly sculpted life of faith, hope, and love that God gives to you!