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December is a very busy month and, unfortunately, many of us can get overly caught-up in presents and parties that we forget to spend time in prayer.
One simple way to enter into prayer during Advent is to imagine the last few weeks of Mary's pregnancy and to accompany her, pondering what she might have been thinking during this time in her life.
This exercise also illustrates perfectly a central spiritual truth: the closer we get to Mary, the closer we are to Jesus.
Mary holds Jesus within her very womb and so the more time we spend with her, the more time we are with Jesus.
Placing Baby Jesus into our hearts
In the book Meditations for Advent the author brings this all to mind and further encourages the reader to spend their Advent with Mary, as it will make Christmas morning even more spiritually enriching:
Let us go to Mary. Let us devote our Advent to Mary. Let us consecrate every thought, word, and action to Mary during this holy season; and then, on the blessed Christmas morning, she will herself place her Infant in our arms; nay, rather, she will lay Him down to rest in our hearts; and He is so obedient to His sweet mother, that He will never stir from the heart wherein she places Him, unless she comes to take Him away. Surely we will not oblige her to do so?
Are we ready to receive such a gift?
Will we be open to Mary placing the Baby Jesus into our heart?
Let us strive to truly enter into the spirit of Christmas and recognize that the greatest gift we can receive on Christmas morning is Jesus himself.
