[Salvation]

Week 1: Saturday   The light of the moon will be like that of the sun and the light of the sun will be seven times greater (like the light of seven days). On the day the Lord binds up the wounds of His people, He will heal the bruises left by His blows. (Isaiah 30:26) Reflection God, while His ways are still mysterious to us, is not on the sidelines of our lives. Just as Isaiah predicted, He has come, in Jesus, to bind up the hurt of His people, and through Jesus’ presence is still active in the world. Advent Action Find an opportunity today to be the hands of God, and "bind up" someone’s hurt. Say a kind word and listen with compassion to someone who is suffering. Before going to bed, say a decade of the rosary for  your mother. Prayer Lord, flood me with Your light, and help me to brighten the lives of those whom I find most dark.

[Salvation]

	Week 2: Second Sunday of Advent   Prayer for the Advent Wreath Lord, our God, we praise You for Your Son, Jesus Christ, for He is Emmanuel, the Hope of all people. He is the Wisdom that teaches and guides us. He is the Savior of us all. O Lord, let your blessing come upon us as we light the first and second (purple) candles of this wreath. May the wreath and its light be a sign of Christ’s promise of salvation. May He come quickly and not delay. We ask this in His holy name. Amen.   Waiting  We light a candle today, a small dim light against a world that often seems forbidding and dark. But we light it because we are a people of hope, a people whose faith is marked by an expectation that we should always be ready for the coming of the Master. The joy and anticipation of this season is captured beautifully in the antiphons of hope from the monastic liturgies: See! The ruler of the earth shall come,  the Lord who will take from us the heavy burden of our exile The Lord will come soon, will not delay. The Lord will make the darkest places bright. We must capture that urgency today in the small flame of our candle. We light the candle because we know that the coming of Christ is tied to our building of the kingdom. Lighting the flame, feeding the hungry, comforting the sick, reconciling the divided, praying for the repentant, greeting the lonely and forgotten – doing all these works hastens His coming.