Today marks the second Sunday of Advent. On this Sunday, we remember the words of Isaiah the Prophet and of John the Baptist, who both told of the coming of the Lord. They urged the people to turn away from sin and to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord.

How, this week, will you prepare your heart for the Lord's nativity? How will you shape your life to be ready for His message? For He calls us to be ready, to be humble, to be giving and to be loving. He calls us to turn away from that which the world values and to focus on Him instead. The world this week will be telling you to rush about, to buy many things, to focus on the commercial aspect of this holiday season. Christ calls you to slow down; to refocus and to recommit. To prepare your heart for His kingdom and to value what He values. He calls you to set aside room in your heart, and schedule, for the sacred. He calls you to set aside time for family. He calls you to value the lonely, and to help the needy. He wants you to see the vulnerable as having infinite value; for God Himself came down as a vulnerable child to a teen age mother and a confused, scared adopted father; to be immigrants in a foreign land, without a home of their own. In the faces of the poor, the needy, the outcast, lonely and scared of today we can see reflections of God; for He chose to be like them. How will you treat them this week as you prepare your heart for Christ?

God's grace be with you, and His compassion fill you,
Fr. Charles Butler