The Advent season is a unique time for prayer, reflection and preparation. What can we do to make our hearts and our world ready for the coming of the Christ Child? The America editors and staff offer a few ideas. 

1. Download some Jesse Tree printables and affix them to a paper tree (or a small tabletop tree) each day, and welcome this old tradition into your home in a new way. 

2. Host a Christmas caroling party. (And while you’re preparing, cue up the new season of Hark!, America’s podcast on the meaning and making of our favorite Christmas carols.)

3. Create your own Advent calendar of good deeds. Instead of filling each day with chocolates (or maybe in addition to chocolates), write different ways you can pray, serve your community and sprinkle joy into the lives of your friends and family.

4. Celebrate St. Lucy’s feast day on Dec. 13 by donning a candle-lit wreath and baking saffron buns.

5. Keep a gratitude journal for Advent. As we wait in joyful hope for the coming of the Lord, take delight in the ways our God is already with us.

6. Rather than opening something each day during Advent, give something to those who are hungry. Place a non-perishable food item into a box each day and deliver the collected food to a local food bank.

7. Light a candle or two at each Mass during Advent in remembrance of, or in honor of, family and friends. And, while you are at it, drop a few extra coins or bills in the donation box.

8. Take the Cabrini Pledge in memory of the Holy Family, who sought refuge, and in honor of all those who seek refuge today.

9. Say a special prayer each day for the hungry around the United States and around the world as SNAP benefits are challenged and overseas aid is disrupted. Then make donations to Catholic Charities USA and Catholic Relief Services.

10. Pray for peace and justice with Pax Christi USA’s “Entering the night of peace” by Flora X. Tang and Cameron Bellm.

11. In a season saturated with Christmas music and movies, seek out some specifically Advent artworks to sit with, like the songs on America’s Advent playlists or the austere, even ascetic, poem “Advent,” by Patrick Kavanagh.

12. Remember West Bank Christians in Bethlehem through a letter to your representative in Congress urging protection from settler violence and ensuring property rights or by purchasing goods made in Christian workshops there.

13. Experience a home-grown Christmas story by visiting a “Living Nativity” at a church or park near you.

14. Prayerfully bring challenging events of the year to the empty crib.

15. Do less. Instead of getting caught up in the craziness of the Christmas holidays, consciously decide to do less: fewer cards and parties; less preparation and shopping if possible. Take time to pray, relax and focus on the beautiful Advent Sunday Mass readings from the Old Testament and the Gospel. Give yourself the gift of peace and quiet.

16. As we approach the birth of Christ, do something extra for the new or expectant mothers in your community. Donate to a local diaper bank, or make a special meal for a new mom in your life.

17. Do you dread wrapping presents? Make it into a mini retreat: Light a candle, put on some Advent or Christmas hymns, and as you cut and crease and tape, reflect on the importance of small deeds done with great love.

18. Channel your inner child and make some paper snowflakes. Write the name of someone you’ve promised to pray for on each unique creation and hang it somewhere in the house. Each time you see it, say a quick prayer for their special intention.

19. Challenge yourself to spend 15 minutes (or more if you’re feeling up to it!) each day in silence—and stillness. No music, no talking, no busy work. It’s often in the quiet moments when we can best connect to this season’s theme of expectant waiting.

20. Choose a pen pal for the season. Perhaps you could choose a friend or family member, who doesn’t live near you but whom you might see when one or the other of you is home for the holidays. In letters or emails you can take special care to check in on this person, and you’ll look forward to talking about all the topics from your correspondence when you see each other in person.

21. Instead of putting up all your Christmas decorations on the day after Thanksgiving, put them up gradually, throughout Advent. Delight in each one and watch as your home slowly transforms itself before the Christmas liturgical season. 

22. Take a snow day. Even if the weather isn’t snowy, you can capture the spirit of a snow day, with a spontaneous day off this season, if your schedule allows. Don’t use the day to run errands, but rather, in the spirit of a true snow day, stay home, rest, and enjoy a moment to read, pray, watch a movie and sip hot chocolate. 

23. Each time you receive a Christmas card this season, take a moment to pray for the person who sent it. 

24. Each day, use the words of a different Christmas carol for spiritual reading. What is God saying to you through them? Start with the classic, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.”