Broken Pieces

Melissa Presser reflects on how our brokenness can serve as heartful reflections toward joy and hope during this Advent season.

The season of Advent and Christmas should be a time of great joy, but for many of us, it is hard to prepare for a holiday filled with so much hope when our hearts are broken. Holiday time can be especially hard on those of us who have lost someone we love, whether it be through death, or a family situation where a loved one is not talking to us. These broken pieces often result in an inability to find joy in the coming of the Christ child, when in reality, it is in picking up those broken pieces that helps to lead us to Him.

If we are suffering, God actually uses this to effectuate a sort of reflective silence and dependence on Him that couldn’t be gained any other way. It far surpasses a lighted tree, tinsel, and the noise that normally surrounds the holiday. But it’s not just Jesus who is here to help us pick up those broken pieces: the disciples are specifically mentioned in Matthew 15:37 as being a part of this loving task.

While we read about the miracle of the feeding of the four thousand in the book of Matthew, we often miss a subtlety that Jesus mentions within this Gospel passage: the disciples actually picking up the broken pieces, the fragments that were left over – seven baskets full. I close my eyes and see the scene play out right before me, sitting amongst the scattered and broken pieces of bread.

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Imagine yourself for a moment being one of those thousands of people who were desperate and hungry for a miracle. You have come to Jesus to be cured or have brought someone you love to Him for healing. You have traveled a long way. You witness miracle after miracle and hope for your own miracle, until you grow tired and hungry waiting, ready to give up.

In that moment of desperation and defeat, in amazement, you watch as Jesus takes seven loaves of bread and a few fish, prays over them, and begins to feed all of you, the thousands that are with you. Imagine the conversation you have with those people that are surrounding you – some who have been healed, some of who are still desperate for answers. Through a shared meal you are able to unload your troubled heart, and then you watch as Jesus’ right-hand men pick up all of those broken pieces that surround you.

The miracle of the feeding of the four thousand that we read about during Advent is not just about bread and fish: it is about the hope of Christ, especially for those of us broken hearted people who need it the most.

If you are suffering this Advent, know that you are not alone. You are surrounded by so many who are also waiting on healing, who are also hurting. We are sitting together, even now, many miles away, eating together at the Lord’s table of every Mass. The Eucharist provides the healing balm we need during Advent, and all year round, but especially now. And as we kneel together in unison all over the world, the saints are picking up our broken pieces, our fragmented hearts and bringing them to Christ, who sees every tear and hears every prayer.

broken Christmas ornament

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If you are suffering this Advent, know that you are not alone. You are surrounded by so many who are also waiting on healing, who are also hurting. #catholicmom

A great grace I discovered while praying my way through this difficult season came in the form of a liturgical revelation. In preparing an Advent quiz game for our youth group, I stumbled upon a bit of information that changed my perspective. This information was something I already knew, but something about seeing it in writing hit close to home for me. It said that Advent is not a penitential season like Fridays during the entirety of the year or the season of Lent.

I thought about that for a moment. What if I set my intention to stay in tune with the liturgical calendar by focusing on the promises of Advent like hope and joy? These are not feelings, but instead decisions we can make to align ourselves with the seasons of the Church. I knew if I started to do my part and lean into the Advent season, that God would do His. A week into the season, and I could see the fog slowly lifting.

May you know this Advent that you are not alone. This season, I will be praying for all of the brokenhearted with great hope and joy. Pray for me too.