Establish Your Hearts

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Waiting is difficult for children. Advent is a rough time for a young mind. The tree goes up, the wrapped packages start appearing, and you may not touch them. Talk of Christmas presents starts to happen – maybe even the trips to the stores to buy them for others. They spend the time from Thanksgiving to Christmas with daily reminders of what is coming, but is not yet. The wait is excruciating. The temptation to touch, to handle, to go exploring, is almost more than they can bear. It is as the Chipmunks say:

Christmas, Christmas time is near
Time for toys and time for cheer.
We've been good but we can't last;
Hurry Christmas, hurry fast!
Want a plane that loops the loop,
Me, I want a hula hoop.
We can hardly stand the wait;
Please Christmas, don't be late!

"Are You the Coming One?"

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“Are you the coming one, or shall we look for another?” This was the question which John the Baptist, languishing in Herod's prison, asked Jesus. Was Jesus the one foretold in sacred Scripture, or was John mistaken? Would Jesus free the people from their oppression? Would the reign of God commence forthright?

One can only imagine John in that dungeon, wondering if the man he thought was the Messiah would rescue him, and the rest of the people, from the hands of their enemies. After all, there was no great upheaval in Judah. The Romans were still in power. Herod still afflicted the land from his paternal throne. The prophet unlike any other was in prison. The people were still poor and needy and suffering.