Our long waiting for Christmas is coming near. Just 72 days to go. One of the memories I cannot forget while waiting for the coming of Jesus Christ was the celebration of the advent. It is the time set aside for reflection on the coming of the Savior. Marked by a spirit of expectation and hope, the four weeks leading up to the celebration of Christmas call Christians to focus on the joy of Christ’s birth. It is the New Years day in the Liturgical Calendar. I still remember the sharing of reflections of each of my choir mates on the certain biblical passages. After the sharing, we were given pieces of art paper shaped like leaf where we need to write our prayers and wishes on the back of it. Then we put the leaf on the old branches of a tree which we called Advent Tree. It was so nice to think that our wishes bring life to the dead branches of the tree every time we were going to put leaves on it. Each one of us were prohibited to read what others wrote on the leaf. After the celebration of Christmas as well as our Christmas Party, we were going to burn the Advent tree to lift up all the prayers and wishes written on the leaves and at the coming of the New Years eve, we recall what we wished and think if it was granted. Most of us were really happy every time the New Year comes because most of our wishes and prayers had been heard.
