Advent, week 2

ViaCordis has some begun some Christmas traditions that you're welcome to borrow and use in your own churches. We pray that they will bless you as they are blessing us.

We use an Advent Wreath to draw attention to the coming of the Messiah. This is the reading we will hear on Dec 6, the second Sunday of Advent.


SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT--BETHLEHEM
SECOND PURPLE CANDLE

Scripture: Luke 2:1-5
1In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3And everyone went to his own town to register.
4So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.

LIGHT TWO PURPLE CANDLES.

It was a crowded city that night, Bethlehem, the city of David. People from all over had returned to the city of their fathers. Here they would register and a census would be taken. Joseph and Mary looked for a place to stay. An inn. A room somewhere, anywhere. A safe place from the chilly night air. But there was no place. At the city’s edge was a stable. There, in a stable, Mary and Joseph found warmth and protection. They would stay here until a new day brought light.

Why God chose to send his son into our world as a baby of humble birth, born in common surroundings, we do not know. What we do know is that God reached out to all people including the poor and wealthy, the simple and the wise, the powerless and the powerful. It is possible to know God because He came to us, at our level.

PRAYER: O Lord! God of the little and of the large, your love is as universal as all creation, and yet as individual as my small heart. Here at Christmas, you embrace the nations. I open the doors of my heart wide to all You have planned for me. Thank you for your humility and love which made room for me. Amen.