Ransom captive Israel

Well, looky here—it’s Advent again, right on schedule. That period before Christmas where Christians are meant to snuggle into the season and prepare for the birth of Christ. It’s a long one this year: four Sundays and four days to get our act together, to gather our thoughts, count our blessings, assess how we’ve done during the previous months and what we might do better in the coming year.

Oh, and maybe let in a little joy. And hope.

You can do this whether you’re religious or not, whether you’re Christian or not.

IMHO, it’s a good thing indeed to press pause—especially at year’s end and when the nights are long and cold in the Northern Hemisphere—and reflect. Reflect on whatever it is you’ve got that needs reflecting.

And I believe that this year in particular, it’s appropriate to consider people around the world who may find it hard to see either joy or hope; I’m looking at Ukraine, at Israel and Palestine, at Sudan, among others. In fact, I’m looking right here in the United States, where Republicans are indulging in an exaltation of authoritarianism as Democrats mostly flap their hands and send stern letters. Where masked federal agents kitted out in the accoutrements of war are tear gassing wine moms, pepperballing ministers in the act of prayer and ripping anyone who looks non-white off the streets to meet Stephen Miller’s quota of detention-to-deportations. Where the Kleptocrat layers gilded plastic gimcrackery over every vertical surface of the White House—that portion that he hasn’t ripped down or paved over—and dreams of a triumphal arch at the entrance to Arlington National Cemetery (it’ll be much bigger, with much more gold, than l’Arc de Triomphe, because Macron just really gets under that orange lizard skin).

Yeah, it's a struggle everywhere.

First Sunday in Advent is in fact about hope. The prophesy of Isaiah looms large, and we open our hearts to the hope of the redeemer’s birth—in whatever form that might take. So we’ll start out with “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”, which is as clear an invitation as you’re going to get.

Floriani is a quartet of men whose common ground seems to be having attended Thomas Aquinas College, a small liberal arts school in Santa Paula, Calif., that teaches using the Great Books method. The group is focused on sacred music.

May the light of the season warm and strengthen all who struggle against darkness (literally) and those who suffer in captivity.

 

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