November 28, 2021. First Sunday of Advent

Advent: a time of waiting, of longing, of preparing the way. 

Advent: a time to be reckless, to read the signs of these times and seek the grace of this moment, as this excerpt from the current issue of Give Us This Day invites us: 

“…[H]ere I stand at the edge of Advent, praying for the resolve to run forth into the wind and raging waves. 

Praying for the grace to seek out Christ not as a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger, but as the Son of Man, coming cloaked in power and glory in the midst of chaos and confusion. 

It is a reckless prayer, one that insists I lift my eyes from my own cares and anxieties. 

It is a prayer that demands I wade into the roiling seas of the present day, 

to stand as a beacon of justice for those battered by oppression, 

to reach out with mercy to those struggling to keep their heads above troubled waters. 

It’s a call not to safety, but to shake the world until that day when God’s Kingdom comes in glory.” 

                – Michelle Francl-Donnay, “A Reckless Advent Prayer,” from the November 2021 issue of Give Us This Day www.giveusthisday.org (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2021). Used with permission.