Advent invites a strange and holy tension: we live in the now and the not yet. There is longing and preparation, waiting and hope. This year the invitation is simple and radical — make room for the One who wants to fill every space in our hearts.

Here are practical, gentle ways to create margins for prayer this season:

• Read the introduction of In Time, the BIS Advent Devotional. Reading the introduction before the season helps shape your attention.
• Invite one friend. Personal invitations change everything. Ask someone to do the devotional with you. This makes them feel seen AND it anchors your own commitment.
• Protect a prayer space. Carve out a chair, a corner, or a bedside table where you consistently meet God. Small rituals — a candle, an image, holy water — help your body remember what your heart already knows.
• Try daily Mass. Even one extra day of Eucharistic presence can re-orient your life. The Eucharist is a meal; God sets a table daily for His children. If logistics feel impossible, start small and be resolutely determined.
• Use worshipful music to re-center. When you struggle to begin prayer, play contemplative worship or instrumental tracks that point your attention toward God rather than yourself.
• Set an alarm or rearrange your schedule. Small structural choices — an alarm, waking earlier, or shifting a routine — make space for consistent union with God.

Making room is often hard. Family dynamics, work, and fatigue make silence feel impossible. Yet hardness is not the same as wrong. Resistance trains and strengthens us. The spiritual life includes real discipline — but the discipline is always ordered to intimacy.

“Just because it's hard doesn't mean that it's wrong.”

Check out the whole episode and share how you're going to dive into this upcoming Advent Season!

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