Rediscovering Childlike Attitudes

On the Road

Jesus told his followers that in order to enter the Kingdom of God they had to become like obedient children, completely dependent on the Father. As we prepare for Christmas, we can easily become jaded by the seasonal commercialism and forget about the awe and wonder of the true reason for the Christmas season.

Each of us needs to recall that first experience of anticipating Christmas when we were young children. We can reclaim those treasured moments gathered around the crèche in our homes and churches and renew them for today. As Jesus’ disciples during Advent, we ought to recapture that childlike spirit—a spirit of preparing to welcome Jesus into our homes anew, knowing that we can depend on the Father’s promise to us his Son with the Holy Spirit alive in our hearts.

Encounter

“The spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him:
the spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
His delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.”
p>. Isaiah 11:2-3

“It is the beautiful task of Advent to awaken in all of us memories of goodness and thus to open doors of hope.”
p>. Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI), Seek That Which Is Above, 1986

Go Forth

What must you do to look at the world through the eyes of a child?

How are you preparing personally to welcome Jesus into your heart?