Advent is the season for Christians to take inventory of their spiritual life.  We do this in an effort to be ready for the coming of Christ.  As is consistent with everything else we do in life, since we are asked to take this inventory every year, we are often tempted to take the process less seriously than we ought.  We begin seeing the process as a ritual rather than a vital exercise necessary for our spiritual life.  Al to often we neglect to take the inventory period. 

    There are a number of reasons why people fall into the bad habit of neglecting their spiritual life.  It is not necessarily because people “hate” God or because they have no conscience.  It is not because they do not believe in God or that they don’t care for him.  Usually the reasons for neglect are much more subtle. 

    Some people begin neglecting their God life because they do not know how to go about this life.  For others, the spiritual life is something to be left for Sundays, mainly attendance at Mass, but anything else is not seriously considered.  Some Christians just do not see the spiritual life as a high priority.  For the majority of people however, neglect happens because people are overwhelmed with the affairs of daily living.  They do not make the effort to take time for God so the affairs of God soon fall by the wayside. 

    Living the spiritual life is practiced on a personal and individual level as well as on a community level.  Both levels are equally important.  We cannot neglect the one for the other.  We cannot tell ourselves that we do not have to pray or attend weekend worship because we have been charitable during the week.  This is not only poor logic it is false logic.  We must remember that the greatest commandment is to love God with our whole heart and soul while the second greatest is to love our neighbor.  Nowhere in scripture will we see that we have an option to choose one over the other.  They go hand in hand.

    All of this being said, this Advent would be a appropriate time for us to begin taking inventory of our habits as a Catholic Christian community.  We all come to worship the God who created us and loves us.  We come to give him glory and praise.  We come because we are a grateful people and our hearts are filled with joy.  However, when we gather together for this great celebration, do we make an effort to be conscious of the spiritual needs of the others around us, or are we just mentally too busy?

    This Advent, let us make an effort to quiet ourselves and to take note of our own needs as well as the spiritual needs of others.  As a parish community, let us begin to take note of some of our bad habits in order to help ourselves and others in the spiritual journey.  Taking note is not sufficient however, we must also make an effort to change.

    Wishing you all a Blessed Advent!       
                                Lorette P. Nault