It is almost Christmas and as our social calendars fill up this Advent, it will be easy to lose sight of the season’s true meaning. Do not fear!

I am offering an opportunity to pause, reflect, and deepen our connection with God while preparing for the coming of Christ this Christmas.

I recommend five books that I have enjoyed this past year that I believe can cultivate a mindful Advent. Why read books?

Professor Karen Swallow Prior helped me find the answer. Out of immense curiosity, I read her book On Reading Well this past summer and it widen my perspective! Let me offer two points as an appetite to her book.

Reading shapes our lives. Professor Prior points to Mark Edmundson, a distinguished professor at the University of Virginia. He is quoted, “The ultimate test of a good book, or of an interpretation, is the difference it would make in the conduct of life.”

Reading forms us to what is most valuable in our frail lives. In quoting moral philosopher Martha Nussbaum, literature conveys not life, but “a sense of life, and of value, a sense of what matters and what does not … of life’s relations and connections.”

Let’s pick up a book and savor this special time of waiting and anticipation! As you browse my list, please remember to subscribe by entering your email and receive up-to-the-minute posts directly in your inbox and be part of the Enlarge My Heart reading community.

5. My readers may find this as an unusual pick at the top of the list. Jane Christmas’ And Then There Were Nuns is a delightful read which I enjoyed this past summer. It is a story of Jane’s journey as an Anglican journeying through several Benedictine monasteries. She is moving from the success of her journalistic career to postponing transatlantic engagement with Colin to journey in faith which is the “grand adventure of the soul, at times exhilarating, at times disappointing” (20). Her journey is paved by the silence of monastic life that uproots the parts of her life that needed healing.

Filled with humor and a lite spirit it is a perfect read during the Advent Season when we are all searching for Christ who is closer to us that we imagine.

4. I took part in a program called the Rome Experience. It is a program hosted by the bishops of the United States. A selected number of seminarians were chosen each summer to see Rome, take courses, and form their minds in the timeless traditions of Catholic culture. Through this program, I had the great honor of studying with Dr. Elizabeth Lev. She opened my heart to the beauty of art. She taught me how to reverence the sacred through all types of mediums in the world of art … and Rome was saturated with it at every turn. It was an unforgettable experience as I sat in the classroom on a June summer day, listening to the pope speak to thousands outside the window as I sat at at the feet of Dr. Lev eating up her every word.

Dr. Lev’s book, The Silent Knight, was a book I enjoyed during the confines of the pandemic. She walked me through the art history of Saint Joseph, husband of Mary. This exciting journey of the development of Josephine art also takes us through the revealing theology of this great saint, his importance in the life of the Church, and how he ultimately comes to take center stage as the Guardian of the Universal Church.

A marvelous read during the season of Advent as Joseph takes us to the first Christmas. While never speaking a word in the scripture, Lev gives voice to this silent knight.

3. One of the hallmarks of music lovers during the Christmas Season is securing tickets at the city’s concert hall or majestic church to hear Handel’s Messiah. Charles King takes a historical approach into the life of Handel and walks us through his journey of how this work, made for the orphanage, birthed into a masterpiece for humanity. Hearing the Messiah is like going on a spiritual retreat before Christmas.

2. I came across Russ Ramsey last summer. He is a Presbyterian pastor who has a love for the arts. In this easy to read book, Rembrandt is in the Wind, he will captivate you and lead you into the heart and mind of masters like Rembrandt and Michelangelo. It is a journey to Christ through the artistic lens.

Finally, this little gem, The Infancy Narratives, is always a winner for the Advent season. This short book is the third in the series of Pope Benedict XVI’s masterpiece on the life of Jesus. It is theologically rich, making the story of Jesus’ Incarnation relative and meaningful for us today.