The best family traditions look past the holiday season

Joshua Ruoff is the lead consultant for the archdiocesan special-needs ministry. He can be reached by email at: jruoff@archkck.org.

by Joshua Ruoff

It is hard to believe but as I write this we are only one Sunday away from the start of Advent.

We all know that Advent is a time of preparation for the coming of our King and Savior. Sometimes, I feel like I need time to prepare for the time of preparation. I need to make sure my heart, my mind and my priorities are in order so that I can be all in for the season.

I sometimes focus so much on myself that I forget that Advent and Christmas are a time we are meant to take the focus away from ourselves and love our neighbor in a special way.

We give thanks to God during this season for all of his blessings he gives to us and we respond by sharing those blessings and our joy with those around us, bringing them closer to him.

Some of my favorite family traditions of sharing the Christmas joy is by buying, wrapping and giving gifts for those that can’t afford them. Giving meals and warm clothes to the homeless. Ringing bells for the Salvation Army.

There are many ways you and your family can share the Christmas season. I encourage you this year to look past the Christmas season. How are you going to continue to share your joy beyond the season? Because that joy doesn’t just go away.

Make sure you are following the special-needs ministry social media, Flocknotes and newsletters. We have some amazing opportunities in our BREATHE respite care and our Fully Alive mental health ministry that will be coming in the end of 2024 and the new year.

We are planning to help new volunteers complete their Virtus training for BREATHE, and I’m so happy to announce that our Fully Alive mental health ministry is partnering with Benedictine College in Atchison to host monthly speakers on a variety of mental health topics.

Not able to be in-person in Atchison? We will be livestreaming and recording our talks, and we encourage every parish to start taking the steps to host your parishioners in-person to have support groups. We will have materials available to help guide discussions and provide resources.

If you have questions about any of these opportunities, please reach out to our office.

I hope and pray that you and your families have a blessed Advent and Christmas season, and that you take advantage of the many opportunities across the archdiocese to share the love of God with others.

Maybe then we will start to make the world feel like it is Christmas every day.