The daily news broadcast on television shows us long files of migrants and would-be refugees.
Asked why they left their country, the recurring answer is that there was no security, no peace, where they come from.
SECURITY and PEACE, the essentials for a decent life, a life without threat of being hurt, tortured, killed.

In today’s 1^st reading (Micah 5:1-4) the prophet Micah promises, in God’s name, those very precious things.
The prophet says that, when he comes to us, God’s Messenger will bring these gifts from God himself.
The message is clear and there can be no doubt about its meaning.

“They (the people) will live securely…
And he will be our peace.”

This special Messenger of God has indeed come to us.
This is what we prepare to celebrate anew in this Advent Season.
We know that he has not failed to carry out God’s promise to bring security and peace to our world.

But then, why, indeed WHY is there so much conflict, war, maiming, killing, in our world today?
Security? It is absent in so many places…
Peace? People lament that it is missing in so many areas.
What has happened?

The answer lies in… the ‘mystery’ of human freedom!
And it is a mystery, really!

God who created us in his own image, made us free beings.
But in so doing, he took the risk that we might use our freedom in a way that would go against his plan –
his plan of a world where people would love one another and live in peace.
We could say here what the popular expression repeats in different circumstances: “The ball is in our court”!

If we want peace, we need to promote it, to work for it.
We need to create situations where good will and mutual understanding make for peaceful relationships between us.

At this time, many of us start decorating our homes for the festive season.
What about putting somewhere – in the Christmas tree, or hanging on a star, or stuck in a window –
a small object which will remind us of our ‘mission’ of promoting peace, being messengers of PEACE?
 

Note: Another text is available on a different theme, in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/4e-dimanche-de-lavent-annee-c-2021/

And in a short video, also in French, Ghislaine Deslières offers us another reflection on this 4th Sunday of Advent, Year C, at: https://youtu.be/Rgi6z2MpJAM

Source: Images: The Reflectionary   etsy.com