The Best in Catholic Memes: Advent Edition

Reading Time: 5 minutes

by Nick Jones, University of Rhode Island

Life has only gotten crazier as this year has progressed, and yet God is still good and His grace still flows.  In the midst of all the hardship, there is still the hope of Heaven. Our Holy Mother, the Church, has given us this great season of Advent to enter into the mystery of the Lord’s various comings into our lives. Hopefully these memes will help us to more fully contemplate things divine this season. 

Source: unknown, first seen by me on Father Z’s Blog

Not all of us are called to the same ways of life as the Saints. So, maybe we shouldn’t punch heretics like Saint Nicholas when he punched Arius. But, we should definitely imitate his zeal! With so much confusion in the world, we need to defend the reality of Who Christ is, just like this tremendous saint did. 

Source: u/psa_with_guitar, r/catholicmemes, Reddit

In our society, people can’t manage to wait for anything. It is my opinion that part of the incessant push towards the next holiday is a coping mechanism to block out the thoughts of guilt that come from the death of God in our individual lives and society. Of course, forgetting Advent and divesting the preparation for Christmas from any penance or recollection must delight the Devil. What an awful thought. Christmas lasts for 40 days, traditionally. That’s plenty of time to celebrate! Let’s all commit to fasting in some sense, so that the coming feast will be even greater. 

Source: Chad from the Parish Council, Facebook

Do we truly believe in the power of Prayer (cf. Matthew 21:22)? If so, we must be confident and patient. Saint Monica was always there in the background during the raucous youth of Saint Augustine, who became one of the greatest theologians ever. Even as a mother with spiritual authority over him, she never imposed faith on him. She loved him, and she let him know that she could not follow him down the path of sin. But, like God with us, she allowed him to freely choose to do bad, knowing that his faith had to be of his own volition. But, because of her consistent prayer, Saint Augustine eventually came back. Let’s all pray that we can have that same grace of zealous, patient, confident prayer for all those in our lives who are in need of God. 

Source: Traditional Catholic Memes for Working Class Teens, Facebook

For those of us who were Baptized in our infancies, there is no greater gift that our parents could have given us than that same Baptism. Absolutely everything else must be subordinate to it. If that’s all they gave, then that’s more than enough. If you are a parent reading this who hasn’t baptized their child, why haven’t you? If you are a Child of God reading this who has allowed God’s grace to become absent in your life, why? The gift of Baptism is freely given, but it still costs a lot to purchase. We are called to possess it and act on it.

Source: Traditional Catholic Memes for Working Class Teens, Facebook

I heard a story of a man in the seminary who heard what he considers to be the greatest sermon he’s ever heard. One day at Mass, an old priest professor walked up to preach, and delivered only two lines. “JESSSSUUUUS DIED, for your sins. Was that in vain for you?” This is something we ought to ponder in each moment. Each one of us belongs to God (cf. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20) and trying to deny that will only bring us sadness. For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, we must all allow Christ to reign in our hearts. 


Source: Catholic Memes, on Facebook

Every single thing that we do either glorifies God and makes us better people or dishonors Him and makes us worse. Every. Single. Thing. This seems to be a theme of this month’s reflection, but recollection is key. Remember Whose you are: God’s. Remember what this is all about: getting to Heaven. Remember that we do not know when it will all change: at the hour of death. Remember why we are doing it: because we want to be caught up in perfect love for eternity. Remember how we can do that: only by God’s grace.


Source: Catholic Memes, Facebook

Angels telling us to “not be afraid” makes a lot more sense when we remember how they are traditionally described to appear. If you really want to marvel at God’s creation, read some classic texts on the angels. There is so much potential for fruitful contemplation of the reality that there are probably trillions of these rational beings, all around us but totally immaterial. 

Source: Lit Catholic Memes, on Instagram

Prayer is what we ought to want to do more than anything. It brings us the closest we can get to heaven while we are still on Earth. Prayer ought to be something leisurely, something we do without counting the cost. Of course, we cannot always spend time in verbal/mental prayer. There is time for both work and other forms of leisure. No matter what, however, God ought to be constantly on our minds. We must do all for His glory. That is the only way to be truly happy, which is what He wants more than anything else. 

Source: Lit Catholic Memes, on Instagram

Just as I mentioned above, there is a proper time for everything (cf. Ecclesiastes 3:1). Advent is not Christmas. Christmas lasts from December 25th until the Baptism of the Lord, and it is still liturgically relevant until February 2nd. We do ourselves a disservice when we deprive ourselves of the proper period of recollection presented by Advent. Of course, this is not just a preparation for Christ in His Nativity. It is also a tremendous opportunity to prepare for His Second Coming, or our own meeting Him at death. It is also a great opportunity to more fully recollect ourselves for His daily entrance into our life by grace.

Source: Bishop Mark O’Connell, on Twitter

Every priest is a spiritual father. Thus, every priest is good at dad jokes. Every Bishop possesses the fullness of the priesthood, insofar as he can transmit it to others by means of Holy Orders. Thus, every Bishop possesses the full capacity for making dad jokes. As justification, see the joke above. Pray for your Bishop. The Devil probably hates him a lot more than he hates you on account of his configuration to Christ. Remember that we owe our Bishops the utmost respect and obedience so long as they are not commanding us to break Natural or Canon Law. 

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