Those Christmas goodies are actually a foretaste of heaven  

Are you eager? I want to be eager – for Jesus.

There’s a lot of eagerness in the air this month, and there should be. We are obviously preparing to celebrate an important feast day, central to our faith – Christmas Day. And these days of Advent (Latin for “to come”) leading up to that special birthday are designed to build our eagerness, not just for Jesus’ birth, but his second coming as well.

Shortly before Advent began, I heard the phrase “eagerly awaiting the second coming” and I thought to myself, am I? Because, really, this is the Advent question. So, ask yourself: “Am I eagerly awaiting the second coming of Jesus Christ, my Messiah and King?”

Right about now, I’m eagerly awaiting all the treats and traditions that come with this time of year. Every time we bake a treat and put it away for Christmas (if it makes it to the freezer!), we can share the analogy with our kids that we are building excitement for Jesus. Yes, eagerness for sweets is relatable to eagerness for sweet Baby Jesus. Why else do we make the Christmas feast so special by taking four weeks to prepare? And eagerness for Baby Jesus must translate into eagerness for all that Jesus went on to teach, live, and sacrifice.

Think about the sweet traditions that make Christmas special for your family. Think about the memories of love and faith attached to the traditions. Take a minute to remind yourself why we make and partake in all these goodies and decorations. Not only is it a celebration for a major feast day, it’s actually a foretaste of heaven, when we will be with our sweet Lord forever. Our joys on earth foreshadow our ultimate joy in heaven.

Lately I’ve been eagerly awaiting the toffee bark we make every year. Let’s just say there’s a good reason some people call it Christmas crack. If you have never tried making bark before, get yourself a candy thermometer, go to landolakes.com and check out the recipe for “Best Ever Butter Toffee.” Follow the recipe as is, switch up the regular chocolate chips for milk chocolate, or maybe swap the suggested nuts to ground almonds like we do, or omit the nuts altogether. Whatever way you choose, you will have no problem understanding the concept of eagerness after one taste of this toffee. It also freezes well, so try to save some for Christmas.

Along with baking, another thing that helps me remember as a baptized Catholic that I need to eagerly await Christ is getting better acquainted with the Old Testament. I just finished the eight-week program “Unlocking the Mystery of the Bible” by Jeff Cavins, available through Ascension Press. Offered by my parish, the short course was a much-needed reminder of our rich salvation history and an awesome way to prepare for Advent.

As adults, we know that Advent is not about counting down to Christmas, but it is about what is “to come.” Jesus’ coming as a baby in Bethlehem was the beginning of the fulfillment of a long love story that began with creation. And as Catholics, we tend to forget the significance of everything that came before Jesus’ birth, as if it doesn’t apply to us as Christians. But the Old Testament is very much part of our history, especially when the New Testament is read in the light of the Old. As Cavins puts it, Jesus doesn’t do away with the Old, rather he relives the Old in the New, fulfilling prophecies and finally freeing God’s people from the ultimate slavery of sin.

The readings and responsorial psalms during Advent are rich with Old Testament references and prophecies about Jesus. Take the time to really read them. Look for the connections. Put yourself in the shoes of the first-century Jews, like Zechariah and Elizabeth, or even Mary and Joseph, who lived in hope of a Saviour. Ask yourself what that waiting meant for them and what it means for you and your family.

As 21st-century Christians, do we live in hope of a Saviour? One might say we don’t have to, since we already know him and what he did for us. Yet, it is our goal to live with him for eternity and he did say he would come again. When we open our eyes in the morning, do we think about that? Are we eager to meet him? Are we filled with joy at the thought of his return?

There are so many reasons to be eager in these days of festivity and preparation. Whether it’s baking special treats, decorating, or taking the time to read Scripture, Jesus should be at the centre of it all.

Lazzuri lives in Nova Scotia with her husband and six children.