hello, and welcome to "mosaic" on behalf of the archdiocese of san francisco. we know the cheerful christmas carol, it is beginning to look a lot like christmas. are you probably hearing it in the store, on the radio, ever since halloween. today we will change the lyrics a bit. our song is, it is beginning to look a lot like advent. christmas is a beautiful destination but the path we take there to get will is important. in fact, it is crucial. where are we going in stuff a hurry? if the answer is i don't know, i'm following the crowds, checking the sale prices and heading toward those spark ling lights, it may be time to slow down and take stock our goal, our destination, our christmas means meeting god himself in the flesh. are we ready for that?

are we prepared? and how can we prepare? we also know all of us, that wonderful christmas poem that begins twas the night before the christmas and all through the house. today we will change the lyrics today, we will say toward the months before christmas and all through the house. the months before christmas is this season called advent. and all through the house, all through the school, all through the church, we can be preparing ourselves, and our families, for the deep meaning of christmas. advent is four lovely truly spiritual and educational weeks. our guests today are two experienced catholic educators who will help us understand what we can do in the homes, in the school, in the community, in our hearts, to make a great christmas. advent is the shopping season, yes. but a wise priest recently wrote, far more important than wrapping gifts in advent is the obligation to unwrap ourselves and our hearts to prepare to meet christ and to live life as he wants us to. we will take a break this.

after this, please join us to discuss advent, our path to christmas.

hello and welcome back to "mosaics" our guests are two catholic educators, marie boarda low, a principal of saint timothy, and six years the principal of the school. i'm sorry, no, 12 years in

catholic school administration. and principal of the school. and prior to, that a public schoolteacher. ann marie is the mother of a young son, a b. a. and m. a. and working on her doctorate in educational leadership. >> and then marian conley, the saint cecilia grammar school in san francisco, been there six years as principal and nearly 30 years as a teacher and also an alumnus of the school, alum that, -- a.m. alumna, i should say. >> and she has a daughter who is nurse. >> pediatric nurse. >> and they will help us understand what our advent is and what preparation for christmas is. >> and someone proposed this advent puzzle to me the other day. in the catholic church, how does new year come before christmas? >> so actually, john, advent is the beginning of the liturgical year in the catholic church. so we start our new church year, i can say happy new year on december 3, because that is

actually the first sunday of advent. >> okay. >> and what happens, as we go four weeks, for advent, and then there is actually 12 days of christmas. >> right. >> and then we go into ordinary time. and there is six weeks of ordinary time, which will then be followed by the season of lent, which then leads us to the most holiest of weeks, with the triduum and with easter. and then it ends with ordinary time again, until we hit advent next year in 2018. >> so in my intro, i suggested we are all rushing toward christmas. and i think you would agree, but you are saying this is a season called advent, which is the new year and it strikes me if we treat it like a new year, there is a kind of impulse to sort of renew our self discipline, look at our ultimate goals and all the kinds of things that go with

the new year is. advent part of that? >> advent is a time to slow down. in the busyness of the real world, where i think as you said earlier, we're already seeing christmas in the stores, but christmas actually doesn't start until the 25th of december. so advent is our time to slow down, to take some time to pray, so do good deed deeds for other people, and to be family with each other, and to do good things. >> now, i know that you both have in your schools and parishes really rich programs during advent in which people of all ages participate. and you will give us some detail on that. can we ask, let me ask you this, advent is not a new fangled feast. it is an ancient celebration, right, an ancient christian practice. >> since the 5th and 6th centuries. but i think what has happened again in our world, it has become about unfortunately the money and shopping and decorations when it is really not about that. it is about preparing for the

birth of jesus. which happened 2017 years ago. so we are not saying that jesus is going to be born again, but it is the second coming, it is for us preparing our time, and getting ready for our meeting with jesus. >> let's talk about a couple of the tools of advent. the advent wreath i think is probably familiar to most people. i can show a couple of examples here, if the camera can pick that up. the advent wreath is generally an evergreen kind of thing, with four candles in it. and you can tell us what the candles mean, i hope, and how they're used. i will slip this in, into the center of the shot, too. there is, just to show everyone how simple it, this is an ancient two pieces crosswood that are the basis of the advent wreath, in my house, my dad's house that he made, and apply evergreens to that and light the candles. can you explain a little bit about this? >> yes, as you notice the advent wreath is, it is greenery around it, it has

three purple candles, and a pink candle. so week one of advent, which this year starts on december 3, you would light the first purple candle, and that represents hope. that there is hope in our world. and boy, in this day and age, do we need to take that in, in our hearts, that there is hope. and it is often called the prophet candle. week two, the following sunday, you would not only light the first candle, but you would also light the second purple candle. and that represents peace. and it is often called the angels candle. now, notice that is purple. kind of royalty. the third week, we actually light the pink candle. and the pink candle represents joy. and it is often called the shepherd's candle. so the shepherds are out in the fields, gathering the sheep. so that is the third week, it is like great, there is joy. and then on the fourth sunday

of advent, we go back and we light the third purple. so we now have all four candles it hr-fplt and that fourth candle -- four candles lit. and that fourth candle represents love. and bethlehem candle. because christ was born right following that fourth candle. >> what we're talking about is a daily ritual that a family can do? >> i know in my parish church, there is a giant one that they light before mass. but as a family you can do it? >> maybe something before dinner or before going off in the morning but a wonderful family time to spend reading the scripture or taking the gospel from that day and reading it together as a family. >> a spiritual practice of some kind. >> nd . >> and there is another habit called the jessy tree. here is a photo of one of those examples. and this is an excursion into the hebrew scriptures to know

about cyst's ancestors and the history of alvation coming from that direction. and this is also a daily thing that a family can do, am i right? hanging an ornament on this each day. >> that's correct. so the jessy tree actually takes from the father of king david, his name was jessy. and he was annointed by the prophet, to establish a royal family. and then a thousand years later when jesus was born. so a great activity that i know in many schools and i know we do this in our school, the children learn about the ancestors of jesus. so jesus is always represented by a star. and so the star would be of course at the top of the tree, just like your tree in probably most homes, have you some kind of a star, but then we go back and look at the genesis, and the key character, one of the key characters in genesis, it is a story of adam and eve. so you would represent that story often with an apple and a

snake. and the children would then, you know, draw the picture, and they would write adam and eve on it. and then they would hang it on the tree. followed by the next people, cain and abel would be the next people in the bible. and go through genesis and isaiah and learn about the people in the old testament. the men and women that came before jesus. >> that's wonderful. >> and another family activity. let's take a brief break. and we will come back and we will learn about the next tool of advent, the advent calendar. >> great. thank you.

welcome back. we are talking about advent, the path to christmas, with some very experienced catholic educators responsible for the spiritual upbringing of children from age kindergarten on up. so marie boardalow, principal of saint hillary's grammar

school in tibberon, i wanted you to explain the rich program that you have in your school. and this is with i think we look at two tools of advent, one is thed a vent wreath, and the other one is the jessy tree, and now we have i think something familiar to many people, the advent calendar. let me show you a couple of interesting samples. people have the paper advent calendar, sort of just a think you can put on the refrigerator and -- a thing you can put on the refrigerator and knock off. and a circular advent calendar, you open a door each day. and i saw a couple that are very or night. this is a facsimile of a german cottage and you open a door each day and see a painting. and this wonderful item, this is an advent calendar from the russian orthodox church, very or nate. and they come from the simple to the very complex. and you brought one with you. can i pick this up?

>> sure. we were explaining the history, and we have a tradition-based faith, but very often with the kid, trying to keep it very practical and relatable to their every day life, and so what we have done in every classroom, this is a part of our christian leadership class, they put this together for each one of our classrooms and very often, when i was a young lass, we would have one of these with pieces of chocolate in them. but what we tried to do is -- they get enough sugar as it is, each class can pull out a piece out every day and inside is a little note about what they can do, in honor of advent. so for the second day of advent, it is let someone else go first in line today. and then the next day, on the third day, the class will open it up, and excuse me, and say offer your for giveness to someone who has hurt your feelings today. each day, they have something else to honor the cease of advent, to show -- to honor the

season of advent, and to show compassion and learn the preparation before christmas. >> those hang in the classrooms. >> yes. >> and every day, at a certain time, the children participate. they go through it. >> right. >> that that is wonderful. >> and what we tried to do through a couple of different activity, this one included, is unpack the story of jesus' birth. so a couple of -- can i show a couple of other items? >> yes, please. >> and the other thing we tried to do is -- the catholic faith as we know has a very long rich history, and with many traditions which are great, but we also need to make sure it is relatable to kids into the future, today. and so what we have done is on the nativity scene in the office, we will have qr codes and each of our kids have ipads for their education curriculum, and what they can do, they can scan these as a class, and there is a message about advent that they can receive, so they're accessing information in a message that is exciting and engaging to them. bringing the catholic faith to them in a way they're used to.

>> they're used to having a mobile device of some kind, in fact it is spart of your program, so to put -- it is part of your program, so to put the catholic faith on that, someone pointed out that the internet is the most fantastically opportunistic -- it is the most fantastic museum that you could wish. every piece of art, every kind of music, every kind of text is on it. and people need to be brought to take advantage of that, i think. >> yes. >> and you have some other items here? >> i have more, yes. so the other thing, too, is families today, they struggle to find a lot of time to be a family. and in the -- busy-ness of their day, and it is especially true during christmas and we have created a family advent calendar that can be posted on the fridge, and each day is a different way that the family as a unit can celebrate advent. so a couple of items, on friday, december 16, have a family movie night, and make

popcorn and watch christmas together, just being part of the family community. and gather some friends and neighbor and go christmas caroling. cut and paste pictures of christmas cards to make ornaments for your tree. ways to prepare and be together and do activities that are simple and manageable and to remind to you slow down. how many times do we hear families tell us, we want to have a simple christmas this year. and these are ways to remember to have a simple christmas. >> can i keep going? >> please. >> sorry. [ laughter ] >> the other part is advent and christmas is often about jesus but we cannot forget mary and her role. and one of the things that is so important, we encourage, is remembering teaching our students that mary had a huge leap of faith and said yes. said yes to bean the mother of -- being the mother of jesus. joseph said yes to mary and jesus.

and something we do, this is an activity called bringing mary's yes to the classroom. and watching kids and talking students through how they can say yes to god. and jesus every day, through their actions and what they do and say to each other and the world at large. so that is all part of of what we do through our advent celebration. >> this is a text for teachers to use in the classroom. >> it is a guide. >> very, very nice. >> uh-huh. >> and i think that your parish, you said, has also kind of a rich history of things, various activities. before i let you get into, that i think we will take our next break and you can tell me about what your parish and community does. we will come back after this brief break and talk more about advent.

hello and welcome back. we are talking about advent and the preparation for christmas. the key figure in advent is mary the mother of jesus as was mentioned here, and i wanted to bring this out from my family's archive, this little lady, if you can see her, is mary, and it is a little statue made by a friend of my mother's many years ago, my mother has treasured it forever, it happens to be the pregnant mary. and i think it was a novelty at

the time, renaissance painters painted the pregnant mary but i don't think often we think of her in that way, and this my mother would place at the center of our advent wreath, and she stood there, going through pregnancy, and we watched her, and there is also the tradition i think of the empty cresh, the empty manger, that jesus hasn't arrived and your yes to god that you talked about is -- i understand there are a lot of advent functions that she is involved in. in your function, in saint cecilia, you have a very rich program of activities. can you tell us more about that. >> right. so as you were saying, there are many different feast days during the season of advent. actually, we usually start off december 6, it is known as the feast of saint nicholas. who is like the predecessor of the modern day santa. and so one of the traditions that we have adopted is on

december 6, if it falls on a weekend, we do it on the friday before, every person in the school leaves out one of their shoe, either the right or left foot, and some helpers some in and put a little treat in their shoes, and we hear the reindeer horns and we hear the bells, and p you know all you know, all of a sudden it gets quiet and the kids go outside the classroom door and inside their shoe, they have some treats to celebrate saint nicholas. and like on that note, too, we are young families who are grouped in our parish, it is a group of families where they have children five years or younger, and we actually have a saint nicholas advent party. rather than a christmas party. we do the advent party. and saint nicholas comes and each child is asked to bring a gift to the event.

and so as a child brings up a benefit for another child, and puts them under a tree, saint nicholas gives them a little token of maybe a stuffed animal or maybe a little thing, like have you just given a gift, saint nicholas is going to give you something, and we have a big feast and the families have a time for community. we also do an advent path. not a christmas pageant but more of the signs and symbols of advent and the people of advent and the students in the primary grades, grades k through three are the actors for the pageant. and we usually do it on the second week of advent, on that friday. and the sunday, they do it for the purchase. but what is wonderful, our men's club, provides a pancake breakfast for everybody in the parish free of charge, and we probably have a thousand to

1200 people come in to our pavilion and celebrate advent as a community. it is really wonderful. also, as part of that, our students participate in the toys for tots program that the firefighters have, because there are so many families that go without. so our students in grades k to 6 participate by bringing in an unwrapped toy or puzzle for those kids. but our 7th and 8th graders actually help out our parish. our parish has a giving tree. 900 ornaments on it. and our students, our 7th and 8th grade, we have about 140 kids in our 7th and 8th grade, they go and each take an ornament off of that tree, the first week of advent, and they pray for that person who is listed on the ornament, and then they bring a gift wrapped to put under that tree that then is given where the parents

come and get those gifts and deliver them to the children. it is a wonderful time of giving. >> that is wonderful am and as you mentioned here, these little items here on your advent calendar are also about service, taking care of others, and giving gifts. we're so consumed with getting, i think, and i think the children learn that, because they want things, but this counter veiling teaching that advent is a season for preparing for charity and practicing charity is a grace. >> and part of our job is to be guides to the students who are on a faith journey and teaching them the gospel message. and they are very ego centric, developmentally, that's how the kids are, that we're dealing with. they think of how does this impact me. why is this important to me? and part of what we do through advent is to encourage those habits of giving to others, to show compassion, to think of others before yourself. and that is part of -- as we

unpackage the story, of jesus' coming, which is what advent is, we hopefully encourage those habits of giving instead of receiving. >> that is wonderful. yes, the charity, the service, the spirituality, the special prayers, the history, in learning the salvation history, understanding the bible, the old testament, and the new testament, and deepening, i think, as i hear from you, deepening the family ties. you are both aware of the kind of fractured modern hectic family and how has to find its center and it may not be the dinner table anymore but it could be here, the spiritual practices that make a family a domestic little church. >> well, six years ago, when i was preparing to adopt my son, i had to go to family classes, to get certified as a foster parent, within the state, and one of the questions they asked as part of this is, what are the traditions within your family that someone would know makes you part of that family.

and it makes you really reflect on, and a lot of the traditions that i came up with, when i was reflecting on that question, came back to traditions i had within the catholic faith. and that's what we're creating for these students. our kids, and hopefully encouraging in our families. >> thank you for tells us that. we're out of time. thanks for watching "mosaic" advent.

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