As my regular readers likely know, I'm Catholic. In the Catholic Church, the weeks before Christmas are known as Advent.

Advent is a time of waiting and preparation for the Christmas season that begins as the sun goes down on Christmas Eve and doesn't end until the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord in early January. (That's right, Christmas doesn't end at midnight on December 25th.)

Over the last few days, I've been thinking about how perfectly timed Advent is.

It comes after Thanksgiving. We go from stuffing ourselves beyond full to recognizing our own emptiness. An emptiness that can't been filled with food or things.

It comes when the night falls all too early and we yearn for light and warmth while we draw closer to the people we love.

In the midst of the holiday busy-ness, Advent calls us to slow down and take time to appreciate the season as it unfolds.

In the weeks before the new year, we think about what we value, what we need to approve, what we hope to accomplish.

Just under four weeks. Four weeks to take stock. To get ready. To clean out the corners of our lives and make our lives ready to receive a guest.