Justice and Righteousness; Comfort and Joy
A Reflection for Advent 2009 “In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.” -- Jeremiah 33:15 (First Lesson for the First Sunday of Advent, Year C) “Do not be afraid; for see – I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people.” -- Luke 2:10 (Gospel for Christmas Eve) This Sunday begins our Advent journey to the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord. We could be forgiven for thinking that Christmas has already arrived, after all Santa Claus has. As children, my brother Tim and I enjoyed our childhood ritual of lying on the floor with all three of the Eaton’s, Simpson’s, and Sears’ catalogues and pouring over the toy sections imagining what gifts Santa would leave under the tree. In those days we always had a real tree so it tended to go up later than most artificial trees do today, yet, we began to sense Christmas was in the air sometime in mid-November when those catalogues seem