Advent begins in less than a week! And, like last year, it’s a pretty short Advent too. The fourth week of Advent is only two days long!
The Catholic Sistas community has eagerly begun preparing Advent. Some even began preparing six weeks ago with the CHRISTMAS SHOPPING CHALLENGE!
WHAT IS A PHOTO CHALLENGE?
And as we have the past several years for Advent and Lent, we are again offering our annual Advent Photo Challenge as one way of preparing our hearts, minds, and souls for Christmas. We live in a very visually oriented world. We use gifs and emojis to express ourselves. We snap photos without thinking twice, sharing them with friends, family, and strangers across the world. We use these photos to reflect on what’s happening at the moment, what has happened in the past and to reflect on what is to come. And this is why our Advent and Lent Photo Challenges at Catholic Sistas are so helpful for many of us. These Photo Challenges offer a visual way to reflect and share on God’s presence in our lives.
Most of the Photo Challenge words can be found one of the readings of the day, or as a way to reflect on the saint of the day or the season of Advent in general. Some of the words are easy, and some of them are difficult. Some of them will require reflection, and some of them you will know instantly what image you would like to share. It’s like our relationship with God. And that is what makes a Photo Challenge a great opportunity for reflection in Advent and Lent. The opportunity to recognize God presence in our lives in the easy and difficult, simple and complex, in the slow and blink-of-an-eye.
JOIN US!
And so I invite you all to join my friends, CELESTE, KRISTIN, LAURA, MANDI, ROSEMARY, SARAH, and myself (RITA), in the 2018 Advent Photo Challenge.
You don’t have to be part of the social media world to participate in the 2018 Advent Photo Challenge, though it is fun to be a part of at least one of our main platforms- Facebook or Instagram- to see other’s posts and read their reflections. Because while it’s fun to share your photos and reflections with others, if the Advent Photo Challenge provides you with an opportunity to reflect on the season of Advent and prepare for Christmas, that’s what counts.
To help you in your challenge, below you’ll find the whats, hows and hashtag info for joining the 2018 Advent Photo Challenge. I’m excited to get started on this photo challenge with y’all on Sunday and to see how the Holy Spirit moves us all to reflect on the season of Advent and share our Catholic faith. Happy clicking (or touching your phone screen)!
HOW THE 2018 ADVENT PHOTO CHALLENGE WORKS
• Each day has a word associated with it. Snap a photo or find an old photo related to that word. The photo does not have to be faith-themed, as the goal of our photo challenges is for us to see God in our everyday lives.
• Use the hashtag #CSAdvent and any other appropriate hashtags (#purple, #tree, #light, etc) when you post your Photo Challenge photos. This allows us all to search Instagram and other social media platforms for other participants (CSAdvent = Catholic Sistas Advent). You can even follow the hashtag on Instagram so you’ll see all the photos posted from everyone participating.
• While our main platforms for the 2017 Advent Photo Challenge are Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, we are present on many other platforms. Tag us with @CatholicSistas on INSTAGRAM, PINTEREST and FACEBOOK, and @Catholic_Sistas on TWITTER. And if you’re blogging about your Advent Photo Challenge, link back to us or comment below with a link to your post.
• Download the 2018 CS Advent Graphic for quick reference. Note that the dates of the weekends are a different color to help visually break up the days.
• Be sure to share the graphic with others and invite them to join the challenge too!
• And considering join us on Facebook in our group CATHOLIC SISTAS – THE COFFEE HOUSE. Here we can share pictures of the challenge and we get to know each other in a private setting. Please request to be added and we will approve you as soon a moderator can.
