Reflection for Advent: Peace

Faith at home reflections for the second Sunday of Advent: making a way for peace (Option 1)

 

Read: Mark 1:1-8, “bear fruit worthy for repentance”

 

Listen: “O Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem” (Herbert Howells), a piece was composed during the blitz, just after Howells’ own home was bombed. You can find this piece, recorded by our own choir, on our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/SaintClement901

 

Reflect: When I listen to this piece of music, I am filled with a sense of longing. I am filled with a sense of purpose that is guided by hope. I am filled with thoughts of what might be. What might be, when the fullness of God’s love is made known and the fruit of that knowledge brings to completion the work of Christ, the one we call the “Prince of Peace.”

 

Our prayers for peace, our participation in the work of the one we call Christ, is no simple or easy thing. This is a hard won peace—hard won, because it is a peace that comes through the transformative, and worthwhile, work of repentance, forgiveness, and reconciliation. 

 

Repentance, forgiveness, and reconciliation. This is a pattern imitated in our worship as we confess, are forgiven, and share the peace in our gatherings. These actions demonstrate, in word and deed, our commitment to the work of reconciliation in our community AND in the world. 

 

Pray: Merciful God of peace, your word, spoken by the prophets, restores your people’s life and hope: Fill our hearts with the joy of your saving grace, that we may hold fast to your great goodness and proclaim your justice in all the world. Amen. (Daily Prayer for All Seasons)

 

Act: Peace is a product of our reconciliation. This can mean a re-engagement in relationship—extending an olive branch if you will. It can also mean shaking the dust off of our feet and letting go of any anger or resentment that keeps us bound to those who have done us harm. I invite you to consider a fractured relationship in your own life. Are you called to reconnect and make right? Are you called to let it go and let God? What action/s do you need to take for your own liberation so that you might, “hold fast to God’s great goodness and proclaim God’s justice in all the world”?

 

Faith at home reflections for the Second Sunday of Advent—making a way for peace (Option 2)

 

Read: The Gospel assigned for the second Sunday in Advent this year is Mark 1:1-8. In this passage, the author of the Gospel is telling us that, the prophet, John the Baptist is going to be the messenger who tells people to get ready for Jesus’ arrival. “See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’”

 

Listen: The musical, “Godspell” includes a song called “Prepare ye the way of the Lord”. You can listen to it here on YouTube, https://youtu.be/zQU4iPpWxV0   This video is from a play. I wonder why there are water balloons? Do you have any ideas?  This video of the song is from a movie made in 1973, and can be found on YouTube, https://youtu.be/c1SiaCV26aQ I wonder why everyone jumps in a fountain? Compare the song to the passage from Mark. 

 

Reflect: When you are getting ready for a special visitor, what sorts of things do you do? Are there special meals you prepare? Do you do any extra cleaning? Do you make welcome signs or get flowers for the house? Are there special things your family does to get ready for Christmas Day? Are these things the same or different then the things you do when you’re getting ready for a special visitor?

 

Pray: Lord Jesus, the light of the world, the prophets said you would bring peace and save your people in trouble. Give peace in our hearts today and show all the world God’s love. Amen. (The Church of Wales)

 

Act: This year, we may not be able to do visit or receive guests the way we would like to. But getting ready doesn’t just mean for company! It can also mean getting our hearts ready to share God’s peace with others.

What sorts of things get your heart ready? For me, reading a good story, cooking my family something yummy, and dancing, are all things that fill my heart—and, when my heart is full, it’s easier to live in peace with others and show them the way of love. Spend 15 minutes doing something that fills your heart.