For Sunday the 8th of December, 2024 (Second Sunday in Advent)
As we gather for worship on the Second Sunday in Advent, the readings from God’s word call us to prepare. “Prepare the way of the Lord through contrition and repentance,” the Baptizer preached. “Prepare! Change the way you think and act! The Lord is coming!” Malachi tells us that while a messenger would be sent to prepare the way, the Lord would appear suddenly—even for those who were expecting him. With Paul, then, we ought to humbly pray “that [our] love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that [we] may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, . . . to the glory and praise of God” (Philippians 1:9-11).