Advent with the Sisters of Notre Dame

Advent is a time of preparation, and the Sisters of Notre Dame are as busy as everyone else. The sisters at La Reina High School, Notre Dame Academy and Notre Dame Academy are coordinating holiday gift drives as well as preparing seasonal liturgies. Sr. Mary Kathleen Burns and the novices at Providence House will host the Women’s Twilight Prayer service at St. Corneilus in Long Beach on December 6. Sr. Mary Paulynne Tubick reports that St. Matthias High School will host its annual Christmas concert on December 12, complete with a hand bell choir. Sr. Colette Theobald is giving missionary talks at schools and parishes during her home visit from St. Julie Mission in Buseesa, Uganda.

Yet the sisters also make time for prayer and discern ways to keep their holiday observance focused on Jesus. Some suggestions they offer for this time include:

• Create a prayerful space with an Advent wreath or candles.
• Give the gift of forgiveness to yourself and someone in your life.
• Receive the sacrament of reconciliation at a parish service or on your own.
• Avoid overspending by doing a media fast and choosing simple but meaningful gifts.
• Pray a decade of “gratitudes” on your rosary to celebrate the blessings of your day, big and small.

From December 16-24, the Sisters of Notre Dame will celebrate a novena of Masses at Notre Dame Center in Thousand Oaks for their benefactors and friends.