hello and welcome to mosaic. on behalf of the archdiocese of san francisco. we all know the cheerful little christmas carol "it's beginning to look a lot like christmas." you are probably hearing it on the store on the radio and in the store. today we will change the lyrics. "it is beginning to look a lot like advent" christmas is a beautiful destination but the pathway we get to get there is important. in fact, it is crucial. where are we going and such a hurry? if the answer is, i am following the crowd, checking sale prices and heading toward holiday lights, it might be

time to slow down and take stock. the goal is meeting god himself in the flesh. are we ready for that? are we prepared and how can we prepare? we all know the wonderful christmas poem that begins "'twas the night before christmas." but today we will say, say, "'twas the month before christmas and all through the house." the month before christmas is a season of advent. all throughout the house, the school and the church, we can be preparing ourselves and our families for the deep meaning of christmas. advent is known for educational weeks. our guests are two experienced catholic educators who will help us understand what we can do in the home, the school and the community and in our hearts to make a great christmas. advent is not the shopping season. a wise priest said, far more important is the obligation to unwrap our hearts to live life

as christ wants us to. we will take a brief break. after this, please join us to discuss advent, our pathway to christmas.

hello and welcome back to mosaic. our guests today are two catholic educators. maria barlow is the principal of saint henry's school. and experience educator you have been 12 years in catholic

school administered asian and principal of the school. prior to that, a public school teacher. and the mother of a young son. she has a bachelors and a masters and working on her doctorate in leadership. beyond her is marion connelly. marion connolly is the principal of the saint cecilia school and san francisco took six years as principal and nearly 30 years as a teacher. and has a grown daughter who is a doctor. >> pediatric cardiologist. >> so they will help us understand what advent is, what our preparation for christmas is. let me ask you first. somebody posed this advent puzzle to me the other day. saying, in the catholic church, how does new year's come before christmas? >> actually, advent is the beginning of the liturgical year in the catholic church. so we actually start -- i

could say happy new year on december 3rd. because that is actually the first sunday of advent. what happens -- is we go four weeks for advent. and then there are 12 days of christmas. then we go into ordinary time. and their are six weeks of ordinary time which will be followed by the season of lent which leads us to the most holiest of weeks with the tritium and with easter. and then it ends with ordinary time again until we hit advent next year in 2018. >> i suggested earlier we were all rushing toward christmas. i think you would agree. and you say there is a season called advent which is the new year. it strikes me that, if we treat it like the new year, there is kind of an impulse to renew are self discipline -- our self-

discipline. is advent part of that? >> it is really a time to slow down. in the busyness of the real world, where as you said earlier, we are already seeing christmas in the stores. but christmas doesn't actually start until the 25th of december. so advent is the time to slow down, to take some time to pray. to do good deeds for other people. and to really be a family with each other and do good things. >> i know you both have, in your schools and parishes, really rich programs in which people of all ages participate. and you will give us detail on that. let me ask you this. advent is not new. it is an ancient celebration. and ancient christmas practice. >> it has been going on since the fifth and sixth century. what has happened in our world that it becomes about the

money and shopping and decorations. it is really not about that. it is about preparing for the birth of jesus, which happened 2017 years ago. we are not saying that jesus will be born again but it is the second coming. it is us preparing our time and getting ready for our meeting with jesus. >> let's talk about the tools of advent. the advent wreath, i think it's probably familiar to most people. i could show a couple of examples here. the advent wreath is generally an evergreen kind of thing with four candles and it. you can tell us what the candles mean. i will slip this into the center of the shot too. just to show everyone how simple it is. this is an ancient those two pieces of crossword which are the basis for the advent wreath that my dad made 80 years ago. you apply your evergreens to that. you light the candle. can you explain a little bit about this? >> you notice the advent

wreath with greenery around it. and it has three purple candles and a pink candle. so weak one is advent which this year, starts december 3rd. you would light the first purple candle. that represents hope, that there is hope in the world. and in this day and age, we need to keep that in our hearts. it is often called the prophet candle. week two, the following sunday, you would not only light the first candle, but you would also like the second purple candle. that represents peace. and it is often called the angels candle. noticed that is purple. kind of royalty. the third week, we actually light the pink candle. the pink candle represents joy. it is often called the shepherds candle. so the shepherds are out in the field gathering the sheep. so the third week is like,

great, there is joy. and then on the fourth sunday of advent, we go back and we light the third purple candle. so we have all four candles lit. the fourth candle represents love. it is also called the bethlehem candle because christ was born following the fourth candle. >> we are talking about a daily ritual that a family can do. i know in my parent's church, there is a giant wreath that we light before mass. but i think families do this at the dinner table. >> or maybe they do it after dinner or maybe it is something they do before they leave in the morning. but it is a wonderful family time to spend reading a scripture or taking the gospel and reading it as a family. >> a spiritual practice of some kind. there is another little habit or tradition called the jesse tree. and here is a photograph of one of those samples.

this is an excursion into the hebrew scriptures to know about christ's ancestors and the history of salvation from that direction. it is also a daily thing the family can do. hanging in ornament on this each day. >> that is correct. the jesse tree actually takes from the father of king david. his name was jesse. and he was to establish a royal family. and a thousand years later, when jesus was first born. so a great activity and many schools -- and i know we do this in our school, is children learn about the ancestors of jesus. so jesus is always represented by a star. so the star would be of course at the top of the tree just like the tree and most homes. then we go back and we look at the genesis. and the key characters -- one of the key characters in genesis is the story of adam and eve. so you would represent that

story often with an apple and a snake. and the children would then draw the picture. they would write adam and eve on it. they would hang it on the tree. followed by the next people, cain and abel, would be the next people in the bible. you go through genesis all the way through isaiah. you learn about the people in the old testament. the men and women that came before jesus. >> that is wonderful. another family activity. let's take a brief break. and we will come back and learn about the next to of advent, the advent calendar. thank you. [incoming text sound effect]

[keyboard tapping in rhythm] [seat belt alarm chiming, buckle clicking in rhythm] [car doors slamming, keys jangling in rhythm] [engine turns over] [sound effects go silent]

welcome back. talking about advent. the past christmas with catholic educators responsible for the spiritual upbringing of children from age kindergarten on up.

the marie barlow, principal of saint henry's school -- please explain the rich program in your school. this is with -- i think we look at two tools of advent. when is the advent wreath. the other is the jesse tree. i think we have something familiar to people, the advent calendar. let me show you some interesting samples. we have the paper advent calendar -- a thing you can put on the refrigerator and mark off. there is also the circular advent calendar. you open the little door each day. i saw a couple that were very ornate. this is similar to a german cottage. you open the door each day of advent and you read a scripture and see a painting. and this wonderful item here is an advent calendar of a russian orthodox church. very ornate. so these run from the most simple to the most complex. emery, you brought want to share. can i pick this up? >> sure. we were explaining

the history. we have a very tradition based faith. very often, with the kids, trying to keep it practical and relatable to their everyday life. what we have done is, in every classroom -- this is part of the christian leadership class. they put this together for each classroom. when i was a young life, my mom would make -- we would have one of these with pieces of chocolate and then. what we tried to do -- 's each class can pull one of these pieces out every day. inside is a little note about what they can do in honor of advent. so for the second day of advent , you can let someone else go first in line today. the next day, the third day, the class will open it up. and say, offer your forgiveness to someone who has hurt your feelings today. so each day, they have some

other way to honor the season of advent and show compassion and live the message as we are trying to teach through the preparation for christmas. >> so these hang in the classroom. >> correct. >> every day at a certain time, they participate. that is wonderful. >> and what we have tried to do through a couple of activities is unpack the story of jesus's birth. the other thing we have tried to do is -- the catholic faith has a long and rich history. with many traditions which are great. we also need to make sure it is relatable to kids today. so what we have done is, on the nativity scene in the office, we will have posts for each kid has an ipad as part of their education. so they can scan these as a class and there is a message about advocacy. so they are accessing information in a message that is exciting and engaging to

them. so bringing it to them in a way they are used to. >> they are used to having a mobile device of some kind. so to put the catholic faith on that -- somebody pointed out that the internet is the most fantastic museum that you could wish. every piece of art, every kind of music or text is on it. people need to be able to take advantage of that, i think. and you have some other items. >> i have more. the other thing is -- families today struggle to find a lot of time to be a family. in the busyness of their days. and this is especially true during christmas. what we have done is we have created a family advent calendar that can be posted on the fridge. each day is a different way the family as a unit can celebrate advent. so a couple of items. on friday, december 16, a

family movie night. make popcorn and watch a christmas movie. gather some friends and neighbors and go christmas caroling. cut and paste pictures from christmas cards received for ornaments for your tree. just ways of preparing, being together and doing activities that are simple and manageable. and it reminds you to slow down. how many times to be hear families say, we just want to have a simple christmas. these are some ways to have a simple christmas. can i keep going? >> please. >> the other part is -- advent and christmas is often about the coming of jesus but we cannot forget mary and her role. one of the things that is so important and that we encourage is teaching students that mary had a huge leap of faith and said yes to being the mother of jesus. joseph said yes to mary and

jesus. and something we do -- this is an activity saying, bringing mary to the classroom. watching this and talking students on how they can say yes to god and jesus every day in their actions with what they do and say to each other in the world at large. that is what we do through advent celebration. >> so this is a guide for teachers to use in the classroom. >> very nice. your parish also has a rich history of things. various activities. before you get into that, we will take a 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. talking about advent and the preparation for christmas. the key figure in advent of course is mary, the mother of jesus as mentioned here. i wanted to bring this out from my family's archives. this little lady, if you can see her, is mary. it is a statue made by a friend of my mother's years ago. this used to be the pregnant mary. there she is. something of a novelty at the

time. i think renaissance painters painted the pregnant mary. i don't know that we often really think of her in that way. and this, my mother would place at the center of our advent wreath. she stood there going through pregnancy. we watched her. and there is the tradition of the empty manger where jesus has not arrived yet. so the aspect of mary, what you mentioned, her yes to god, is of great interest. i understand that there are a lot of advent functions that she is involved in. so at your parish of saint cecelia, you have a very rich program of activities. can you tell us about that? >> as you are saying, there are many different feast days during this season of advent. usually start off december 6th and that is known as the feast of saint nicholas. and he is the predecessor of the modern-day santa.

so one of their traditions we have adopted is on december 6th, it falls on weekend so we do it on the friday before. every person in the school leaves out one of their shoes. the right or left foot. and some helpers come in and put a little treat in their shoes. and we hear the reindeer horns. we hear the bells. all the sudden, it gets quiet and the kids go outside the classroom door and inside their shoe, they have some treats to celebrate saint nicholas. on that note too, we -- our young family groups and our paris -- paris. groups where we have a saint nicholas advent party rather than a christmas party. we do the advent party. and saint nicholas comes. each child is asked to bring a

gift to the event. so as the child brings the gift for another child and puts it under the tree, saint nicholas gives them a little token -- maybe a stuffed animal or a little thing. so since you gave a gift, saint nicholas will give you something. so we also do in advent -- we do this advent focusing on -- the signs and symbols of advents or the people of advent. the students in the primary grades, grades k through three, are the actors. so we do this usually around the second week of advents on friday. on sunday, they do it for the parish. and what is really wonderful is the men's club provides a pancake breakfast for everybody in the parish, free of charge. and we probably have 1000-1200

people come to the pavilion and celebrate advent as a community. it is really wonderful. also as part of that, the students participate in the toys for tots program with the firefighters. there are so many families that go without. so our students in grades k cap- 6 bring an unwrapped toys or to -- or puzzles. but the parish has a giving tree. 900 ornaments on it. our students -- we have about 140 kids in the seventh and 8th grade. they go and each taken ornaments off of the tree the first week of advent and they pray for that person who is listed on the ornament. and they bring a gift to put under the tree that is then

given. and the parents take those gifts and deliver them to the children. it is a wonderful time of giving . >> that is wonderful. as you mentioned, these items on your advent calendar -- service, taking care of others, giving gifts -- we are so consumed with getting -- and the children learn that because they want things. but teaching that advent is the season for caring, for charity and practicing charity is really great. >> part of our job is to be a guide for the students who are on a faith journey and teaching them the gospel message. they are very egocentric. developmentally, that is how the kids are at this age. they think, how does this impact to me and why is is important to me ex- -- to me?

. part of the season of advent is to show compassion for others before yourself. so as we unpackaged the story of jesus coming, which is what advent is, we hopefully encourage the habits of giving instead of receiving. >> that is wonderful. the history and learning the bible and the old testament and the new testament -- and deepening family ties. you are aware of the fractured modern hectic family and how they have to fund the center. and it may not be the dinner table anymore. but it might be through spiritual practices that make the family a domestic church to make 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. one of the questions they asked was, what are the traditions and your family that someone

would know makes you part of that family? it makes you reflect. one of the traditions i came back with was traditions in the catholic faith. >> thank you for telling us that. we are just out of time. thank you for watching mosaic on advent.

welcome to bay sunday. i am your host, kenny choi. a lot of great holiday ideas on the show this morning. everybody cooking up some tasty meals these days. but the way you serve them makes them taste even better. the meal starts of course when you set the table. and here to show us how it is professionally done and done right is dena homan, the owner of the company. this looks fantastic. what are the secrets in terms of setting the table? >> 80% of your perception in your mind comes through your eyes. and so it sets all of