PREPARING THE WAY OF THE LORD

                Today is the Fourth Sunday of Advent. One more week until Christmas. By now many of us have made our preparations for Christmas. The Lord is still preparing our hearts to make room for His Son Jesus to be born again in our lives. The signs and symbols of Christmas help us to reflect on the goodness of God that we celebrate.

                Evergreen branches and trees decorate our homes and churches as a sign of life during the darkness of winter. Since the first celebrations of the winter solstice, branches of pine and spruce and balsam have been brought indoors to celebrate the “new sun” that dawns in late December with increasingly longer days of light. Against the cold winter landscape, these pieces of greenery were signs of hope that spring will return and that a new growing season will come again.

                Our evergreen branches then, are a sign of hope. Let the greenery stir within our hearts the hope that peace, joy, and good will are always possible; let the fresh smell of the pine remind us of God’s Spirit in our midst; let the branches give us pause to remember that we are all branches of Christ, who “takes root” in us this Christmas.

                Let us pray: Come, Lord Jesus, Word of God, and transform our Advent hope into Christmas peace. May your Word of love take root in our hearts, enabling us to speak that Word in offerings of peace, joy and good will to all as we celebrate your birth again this year.