An Advent Journey for the Discerning Heart:
Prepare your heart for Christ through Scripture, the saints, and the gentle practice of daily listening.
Part Four: Welcoming Christ with a Heart Fully Awake
DAY 26 – Christ Dwelling Within
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”
John 1.14 RSV
Christmas reveals something astonishing: God not only comes into the world — He desires to dwell within the human heart. The Incarnation is not simply a moment in history. It is the beginning of a relationship in which Christ shares His very life with us.
The God who took flesh in Bethlehem does not remain at a distance. He comes in humility so we may draw near without fear. He comes in silence so we may learn to listen. He comes in littleness so the smallest heart may welcome Him. The same Jesus who rested in Mary’s arms desires to rest in every soul open to His presence.
The listening heart, shaped through these days of Advent, becomes the very place where Christ is received. He does not wait for perfection. He looks for willingness, humility, and love. Wherever a soul says “Yes” to Him, the grace of His indwelling is renewed and strengthened.
To say that Christ dwells within us is not poetry.
It is the central mystery of the Christian life.
Through Baptism, through grace, through the Eucharist,
Christ lives in us and draws us into the very life of the Trinity.
Christmas is the revelation of divine nearness.
It is the mystery of God entering time so that we may enter His life.
It is the beginning of Christ dwelling in us and living His life through us.
Journey with the Saints –
St. Bernard of Clairvaux
“What value is it to me that the Son of Mary was born once in Bethlehem, if He is not born also in my soul?”
St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermon on the Nativity
St. Bernard understood Christmas as an interior reality. He taught that Christ’s coming in history is meant to lead to His coming in the heart — not as a new Incarnation, but as the soul’s awakened reception of the One who already dwells within by grace.
For Bernard, the Nativity bears fruit when the believer welcomes Christ more consciously, more lovingly, and more completely. The Savior who came in humility desires to enter the hidden places of the heart, to strengthen what is weak, to heal what is wounded, and to draw the person into the fullness of divine love.
Bernard reminds us that Bethlehem is renewed whenever a heart opens itself without resistance to the presence of Christ.
Reflection for the Listening Heart
Today invites you to enter the quiet place within you where God is already present. Adoration begins in that interior space where the heart stops striving, stops explaining, stops filling the silence, and simply becomes aware of Christ’s nearness.
Ask yourself:
Where is God approaching me quietly today?
Where do I sense a gentle invitation to pause, to notice, to receive?
Adoration grows when the heart learns to remain with Christ without demanding words or feelings. It is choosing to be present to the One who is present. In this stillness, the soul discovers that love deepens not through effort, but through attention.
L
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