This Sunday is the third Sunday of Advent, also known as Guadete Sunday, meaning rejoice!  Like last week, the gospel reading is another on John the Baptist preparing the way for Jesus.  It starts with

"A man named John was sent from God.  He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him.  He was not the light, but came to testify to the light." John 1:6-8

Jesus is the light in the darkness.  

Even though in Advent we are preparing for Jesus, He is also already present in our lives.  All we have to do is look around and recognize Him among the blessings we've been given.  

For me, I see Jesus in my husband when he is selfless and forgiving.  I see Jesus in my two daughters, their sweetness, innocence, and joy in the smallest of things.  I see Jesus in my parents, in their generosity and love.  I see Jesus in the beauty and perfection of nature.  I see Jesus in the faithful servants of His church, who generously care for their community and teach the gospel to their children.  I see Jesus in the small, kind acts of strangers every day.  

This week there are several awesome feast days that are fun to celebrate and help us stay focused on Jesus during Advent:  St. Juan Diego (12/9), Our Lady of Guadalupe (12/12), and St. Lucy (12/13).  We will be doing activities from the pages I linked that I spent a lot of time researching last year.  Grace is so excited about them, especially St. Lucy's feast day, as she will get to wear the wreath on her head and deliver cinnamon rolls to us for breakfast.  Even if you do just a little to recognize these feast days, your children will appreciate it.

I hope you have a great family meeting!

Celebrate Our Lady of Guadalupe {December 12}

With my focus on Jesus this Advent, I'm making an effort to recognize several of the feast days leading up to Christmas.  I have learned so much as I have grown in my Catholic faith, and I have a new-found respect for the many traditions we have!


December 12th is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  Only recently have I learned about the miraculous apparition of the Virgin Mary to Saint Juan Diego in Mexico.  I learned much about this miracle from watching the Catholicism series with Father Robert Barron (video clip below) and reading articles, like this one from Catholic Online.  There is also tons of information to be found about Our Lady of Guadalupe, as well as Juan Diego at Sancta.





This video is longer, but it's very interesting and talks about what makes the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Juan Diego's tilma so miraculous.  It was so incredible that it converted millions in Mexico!




Pretty amazing stuff, right?!  Now that you're all inspired, here's some music to listen to as you peruse ideas for celebrating Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Juan Diego with your family!

Teach kids about Our Lady of Guadalupe

A great way to teach kids the story of Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe is with the DVD Juan Diego: Messenger of Guadalupe.  We were able to get it on Netflix.





There are also several children's books featuring this story.  

Crafts and Coloring

 Here are a variety of Our Lady of Guadalupe coloring pages.

Several awesome coloring pages that tell the story of Juan Diego by Holy Heroes can be found here .













Make a printable Saint Juan Diego paper doll from Paper Dali.

Brown bag tilma
Catholic Inspired

Make a tilma out of brown paper bags.  

Ways to Celebrate

An easy way to celebrate is to eat Mexican food for dinner.  You can also have Mexican hot chocolate!

Get a Lady of Guadalupe candle and light it during dinner or prayer time.  You can find them at many grocery stores in the Latino food aisle.

Jessica from Shower of Roses celebrates the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe with a tea (pics below).  Her children created their own Tilmas.  They had some simple, yet creative and symbolic foods, including St. Juan Diego sombreros, Tepayac Hill mash potatoes, A Woman Clothed With the Sun taco dip, A Mantle of Stars cookies, and Tilma of Roses made of tortillas.  The kids also built and decorated their own church.  I will definitely be making a few of these!

A Tea in Honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Shower of Roses

Prayers

Mary is such a wonderful example for us mothers, and I find great comfort in asking her for her intercession.  You can find a variety of prayers to Our Lady of Guadalupe at Sancta, as well as a novena.  

Enjoy the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe!