Second Sunday of Advent
Receiving a visitor can be a joyful experience, especially when the visitor is someone we know and love. But a visitor can also be disruptive; if we want to welcome them properly, we must clean the house, prepare the room where they will stay, perhaps prepare a special meal and show them around town… all of this preparation disrupts our normal routine. And if the visitor decides to stay longer than originally planned, the disruption is even greater.
This Advent we recognize God as the one who comes to visit us. All of today’s scriptures announce this visitation: the Lord is coming, and we are told to prepare the way. As with a human visitor, if we want to be ready for God’s coming, if we want to receive God well, the preparation will take work, and our preparation will disrupt our routines and habits.
This week, let us reflect on the ways that God continually visits us: in his word, in the sacraments, in prayer, and in those we meet. And let us prepare the way of the Lord, the way into our hearts, to receive God’s visitation, asking that he might transform us through his coming.