fourth sunday of advent

Dominus vobiscum.  The Lord be with you.  We began the season of Advent with the question “Is God the dominant force in your life?”  Put another way, is God, is our Saviour, the center of your life?  As the season of Advent draws to a close, we make the final preparations for the solemn celebration of Christ’s birth, now in just a few short days.  So, I ask you and I the question, are we ready to welcome Christ into our heart’s this Christmas? 
 
In our first reading from the prophet Micah, a prophet who lived some seven-hundred years before the birth of Christ, he speaks of Bethlehem.  Bethlehem was one of the smallest and the least of the towns of Judah.  It would be chosen, by God, as the place where “God made flesh,” the Messiah, would be born, and come into our world.  From a place so insignificant came something so great.  All out of love.
 
As we light the fourth candle on our Advent wreath, we are reminded of the great love that God has for each and everyone of us.  Never forget this.  May we reflect this same love in our words, deeds, and actions, from the greatest to the least.  Remember, what seems like something small or insignificant to us just might mean the world to someone else.
 
The greatest preparation we just might make this upcoming week might be the one no one on earth will ever see.
 
O come, O come, Emmanuel.
 
May the Lord be with you, this day and always.
Fr. Greg