When I entered the convent, I had visions of Advent seasons quietly spent in a chapel in semi-darkness with a good book…. In those early days of my religious life, this seemed to me to be the perfect way to welcome the birth of the Savior!
I entered the Daughters of St. Paul in the month of August, so it wasn’t long before my first Advent in the convent turned that idea on its head!
As Daughters of the great apostle Saint Paul and imitators of Mary, we are sent to the world to prepare the way for Christ. We are called in our mission to sing with the angels the birth of the Savior, to sing the message clearly, to sing it everywhere, and during Advent to invite everyone to Come to Bethlehem.
During December every aspect of our Pauline mission is “all systems go.” I remember Mother Paula, who began our congregation here in the United States, often telling us that the Advent-Christmas season is when hearts are open wide to God. It is the season in which people more easily receive the message of the Gospel. So, in every way possible during these weeks, we proclaim to as many people as possible—in person, in our Centers, online, in our books, and in our music—the message: “You are loved, eternally loved, by a God who has sent his Son to walk with you, heal you, save you from your sins, transform you through his mercy. You are never alone. Not ever. We want you to deeply experience this love this year!”
In particular, the Sisters of our choir have been preparing for our annual Christmas concerts. The Sisters who are blessed with the gift of music often call themselves the “Advent Choir.” Each year, they spend most of Advent on the road preparing people for the birth of Christ with a multi-city concert tour that has become a beloved annual tradition for families across the United States.
The theme for this year’s concert is “Come to Bethlehem.” It speaks to the idea that Jesus is inviting each of us to meet him in the midst of our everyday lives, even in the most difficult circumstances. Even more, if Jesus is inviting us to come to him, it means that he has first already come to us.
Sister Sean Marie David, a choir member stationed in Boston (alto), says, “What is so meaningful is that this theme, ‘Come to Bethlehem’ is in the present tense. It speaks to the reality that God is inviting each of us now in this specific moment of our lives to meet him in ‘Bethlehem.’ I am reminded of the images of a simple nativity set up last year in Bethlehem in the West Bank. A statue of the infant Jesus was laid in the midst of the rubble. Yes, our God comes to us in the rubble—sometimes the literal rubble of a war zone, sometimes in emotional or financial rubble; and sometimes in the rubble of fractured relationships—God is here already before we even think to call out to him. This is what we sing about in our concerts.”
I asked Sister Amanda Marie, choir member stationed in St. Louis (alto), why “Come to Bethlehem” was the perfect theme for a Christmas concert this year. She told me, “As the Church begins the Jubilee Year this Advent with the motto, ‘Pilgrims of Hope,’ Pope Francis is calling Christians around the world to renew their hope in the face of the struggles, conflicts, and anxiety that afflict us. This is not a call to adopt a fluffy, idealistic optimism, but a summons to embrace the truth that Jesus has redeemed us and continually sustains us with the gift of his life. The theme ‘Come to Bethlehem’ speaks to both the ‘pilgrimage’ aspect of the Jubilee Year and the ‘hope’ of salvation that God has promised to fulfill. In this Jubilee Year—and in a much smaller way, through this concert—God is calling us to undertake a pilgrimage to Bethlehem, the birthplace of our hope. Jesus is born and he is with us. Nothing can separate us from him if we allow his love to fill and shape our lives, making them an image of his own.”
In these last weeks before the first Christmas concert at Lorenzo’s Restaurant on Staten Island on December 5, we sisters often come across choir members practicing their music and reviewing choreography. Sister Anne Flanagan, choir member stationed in Metairie, LA (soprano), is reviewing choreography, concentrating particularly on the song “Deck the Halls.” She shared with me, “As I prepare for the concert, I pray that I will really focus on Jesus in my vocal exercises and practice, so that I will be free to focus on him entirely when the curtains go up. My special intentions this year are for some people in my life who are in particular need of a breakthrough of ‘amazing grace.’ In the words of Jesus, ‘for their sakes, I consecrate myself, that they may be consecrated in truth’ (John 17:19).”
There are Sisters you won’t see at our concert, but who are the powerhouse of prayer behind the concerts. Our Senior Sisters pray for the singers and intercede for all the people who join us to prepare for the celebration of the birth of Jesus our Savior. Sister Augustine shared, “We are preparing for the Prince of Peace to come. We pray for peace in everyone’s hearts, peace in families, peace in our country, and peace wherever countries are suffering the sorrows of war.”
I know that even though for myself the Advent weeks will be filled with the desire to bring people closer to the fire of Jesus’ love burning in his most Sacred Heart, I will also take advantage of quiet moments of reflection tucked into most of those Advent evenings. I will spend them in the company of Mary, asking her to help me hand over my life entirely to my vocation as she did: to bring forth life in the hearts of today’s people by giving them Jesus Christ, their Savior and Teacher. At one time I sang in the choir myself, but now my apostolic assignments take me in other directions to meet other people. Yet all of us Sisters together, united in prayer and love and mission, pray daily in our Advent hours of eucharistic adoration for everyone so much in need of Christ, that this Christmas our world might experience a breakthrough of the amazing love of Jesus.
Come to Bethlehem, 2024 Tour dates
