This time of year we find ourselves in a bit of turbulence caused by competing fronts. The secular calendar is careening toward Christmas while the church calendar is preparing for the end times and Advent. We’re in for a bumpy ride! The warnings are jarring to our ears (especially if they have already heard carols ringing in the stores in mid-October). The new church year begins with a wake-up call: Christ is coming soon! Keep awake! In today’s readings, both Paul and Jesus challenge us to wake from sleep, for we know neither the day nor hour of the Lord’s coming. We hear the call to be ready in heart, mind, and spirit to welcome Christ once again into our lives and into the world.
image: “Sunset over Bellus reservoir,” Valencia, Spain. Photo copyright © Jose A. Bernat Bacete /Moment Collection/Getty Images Plus via Getty Images. Used by permission.
In the busyness of the holidays, it is easy to skip ahead to Christmas and find ourselves ill-prepared to receive Christ when he comes. Our Advent theme – Prepare the Way of the Lord – reminds us to set aside time to light the Advent candles and prepare ourselves for the birth of our Savior. Long ago the prophet Isaiah cried out to God’s people, inviting them to “make straight in the desert a highway for our God” (40:3). Each year we hear the call to prepare our hearts and minds to receive Christ when he comes.