“Life is hard!”
You may have heard a number of people say this recently, and you probably felt that you knew what they meant!
Viruses of different kinds, the cost of living with inflation, shortage of different items, lack of personnel in different services, conflicts and war –
the list could go on.
Faced with all this, people feel helpless, and they lament and complain – what else can they do, they wonder.

In today’s 2^nd reading, the apostle Paul, writing to the first Christians of Rome (Romans 15:4-9), speaks of:
“the God who gives endurance and encouragement”.
 
Reading, or hearing, these words, we may think that this is where help is to be found.
We are told that these will give us HOPE.
God knows – he does indeed – how we need this!

But strangely enough, Paul goes on to say that we should pray God to give us these gifts of endurance and encouragement so that we may have:
“the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had.”
 
It becomes clear, then, that our situation can improve if… we help one another!
Our condition will get better by making it easier for others to bear their burden –
the burden of daily life and all that it entails…

We may not manage to overcome all the difficulties people are faced with, but we may be able to bring some comfort to those in need of it.
Helping one another may be the way to brighten, not only their life, but also our own!

The season of Advent is a good period to make this experience…
We may be surprised at how positive the result turns out to be!
 

Note: Another text is available on a different theme, in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/2e-dimanche-de-lavent-annee-a-2022-2023/

Source: Image: Pinterest