The call of John the Baptist

If you were to spend a moment daydreaming about your idea for a perfect Christmas, what images would you conjure? Gorgeous music and candlelight? A family gathering without quarrels and instead filled by a sense of Christmas good cheer? Healing for a loved one who is ill? Time with someone you miss? What? 

This week in our readings we meet John the Baptist who calls people to repent. Repentance is rarely an easy sell as it is so often associated with feelings of guilt, of not doing enough or not measuring up. However, repentance isn’t about feeling bad or saying, “I’m sorry.”  Rather, it’s about a re-orientation, a change of perspective and direction, a commitment to turn and live differently.

Advent can be a time to put things in perspective, to channel our energy and resources to those things that matter most … to us, to our families and communities, and to God.

Have a blessed Advent.