2nd Sunday of Advent

God’s Word always comes to specific human beings in concrete situations. It’s not airy, floating in the clouds. All around the world, as Advent begins, Christians undertake intensified prayer and preparation.  This is how they prepare the way and make the paths straight. There is a collective power in millions turning from the culture’s hype, seeking instead a way of peace, simplicity, and mystery. 

When the stores hang red and green tinsel, Christians drape
their altars and prayer corners with violet. Their energy
comes not from what they can buy, but as the prophet Baruch says, from “rejoicing that God has remembered them.”

In the twenty-first century, we remember Herod, Philip,
and Annas only as villains. The heroes of the story that is
unfolding were unknown in their day: a ragged preacher in
the wilderness named John, a teenaged girl named Mary,
her baffled fiancé, Joseph.



Somewhere in a Toronto hospice for AIDS patients, a first nations parish in Attawapiskat, an orphanage in Malawi, the Word of God continues to be spoken by unique individuals who aren’t famous: through healing touches, compassionate eyes, hearts attuned to Christ’s.




Sharpen Our Hearing
God our generous Father,
you who sent John to awaken the people to the coming of Jesus,
sharpen our hearing, so we too might hear
the unlikely prophets in our midst.
Attune us to your Word, spoken by ordinary people,
by children and teenagers, laborers, artists, and the elderly
so that together we can prepare your way.
Lead us to appreciate all your people
as much as we admire the rich and famous.
We ask this through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.