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Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you’ve refreshed the hearts of God’s people. Philemon 1:7

During Advent, we’re invited to make an interior journey and to prepare our hearts for the coming of the Christ Child. 

While the distance from Nazareth to Bethlehem is only 60 miles (96 km) as the crow flies, the route Mary and Joseph likely travelled for safety’s sake took them 80 miles (129 km) over rugged terrain. Today, the trip can be made in two to three hours by car, but when Joseph walked the route, leading the donkey that carried Mary, it probably took them nearly a week. The Gospels don’t really describe the kind of shelter loaned them on their arrival nor can we know how comfortable it was. It may have been a stable, or a cave or even a back room in a house where a family kept their livestock. Whatever it was, it wasn’t much of a welcome for the long-awaited Messiah; yet gladly, willingly, Jesus came to be born in that shelter and from that moment on, began changing the hearts and lives of all who welcome him in. The busy-ness we bring upon ourselves in the days before Christmas so often bring us stress rather than anticipation, short-fuses rather than kindness, exhaustion rather than celebration and conflict rather than harmony. These daily reflections are an invitation to experience more fully the true Advent gifts of hope, love, joy, and peace as we seek to make room in our hearts to embrace the One who knows and loves us best. 

Written by 19 Oblates and 6 Sisters, these daily offerings include a suggested reading. May these entries form part of your daily devotions. 

It is our prayer that these little embers, the lectio of our lives, will provide food for the journey. We welcome your company as we seek to make room in our hearts – and lives. 

Regular posts will commence on the first Sunday of Advent.