Each year, during the last week of classes, Keuka College’s Center for Spiritual Life hosts a Christmas Candlelight Service. In this service, we read the Christmas story together, as told by Matthew and Luke in the Bible, and sing Christmas carols in between each collection of verses.

Each year that I have been at Keuka College I have participated in the Christmas Candlelight Service as a reader. Each reader is given a portion of the Christmas story to read to the rest of the people. This year, my scripture reading was Luke 2: 1-7 and it reads:

1 “At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. 2 (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. 4 And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. 5 He took with him Mary, his fiancée, who was now obviously pregnant.

6 And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. 7 She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.”

I find that being able to stand up in front of my fellow students, faculty, and professors and read the Word of God proudly is an extremely liberating feeling. As a Catholic, I have wrestled with the fact that I am a Catholic. I have gone back and forth between proclaiming myself devout to almost renouncing my faith all together, yet there seems to always be something that pulls me back. Being surrounded by people who accept my beliefs as their same beliefs helps bring me comfort in the holiday season.

After reading the scripture, we all sing a carol together and then a volunteer lights a candle on the alter, signifying each member of the Christmas story. At the end of it all, each of us holds a lit candle and we sing “Silent Night” together, surrounded by God’s light.

Even if your campus does not have a wonderful tradition like this, there are still plenty of ways for you to be with God. Most church’s offer extra services and meditations this time of year, or maybe you could just take some time for yourself to be alone with God in the comfort of your own home. Either way, Advent is a time to get to know God better and to thank him for all of his wonderful blessings in life.

Sometimes we can all get so wrapped up (haha get it?) in the semantics of the holiday season- the gifts, the food, the relatives we all don’t like but have to pretend to like a few times a year- but just sit back and think about what this season truly is about. I encourage you to light a candle in your home, say a special prayer, and remember that Advent is about Christ and his everlasting love for each one of us.