This week's readings Week of December 8 - 14 Sunday, December 8, 2002 Reading I: Is 40:1-5, 9-11 Reading II: 2 Pt 3:8-14 Gospel: Mk 1:1-8 Monday, December 9, 2002 Reading I: Gn 3:9-15, 20 Reading II: Eph 1:3-6, 11-12 Gospel: Lk 1:26-38 Tuesday, December 10, 2002 Reading I: Is 40:1-11 Gospel: Mt 18:12-14 Wednesday, December 11, 2002 Reading I: Is 40:25-31 Gospel: Mt 11:28-30 Thursday, December 12, 2002 Reading I: Zec 2:14-17 Gospel: Lk 1:26-38 Friday, December 13, 2002 Reading I: Is 48:17-19 Gospel: Mt 11:16-19 Saturday, December 14, 2002 Reading I: Sir 48:1-4, 9-11 Gospel: Mt 17:9a, 10-13 Pope's Prayer Intentions December General Intention Protection of children from all violence: That children around the world may be protected and defended by their families and by adequate social policies against all violence. December Mission Intention That Christmas may stir up love for those who count for little in the world: That remembering the Savior's birth may help people develop an ever-greater respect for the little ones and those the world does not count.

Peace:
Flowing from the Lord's coming

		Word of God  Word of Life  Fr. John G. Stillmank

In my office hangs a print of a watercolor painting showing the river flowing near where I grew up.

The original was painted by one of my kindergarten teachers. Her painting shows the blue and green of the river, overhung by trees beginning to change the colors of their leaves, and a large branch or small tree trunk tipped into the water.

"Jesus takes us back to the time of his coming, to heal us of our brokenness. He takes us forward to the time when he will come again in glory, when peace shall be his everlasting gift to a new heavens and a new earth."

You can see both banks of the river and pretty far into the distance, but not around the bend. The time of day appears to be late morning or early afternoon.

Sometimes I take a moment and just look at that painting, remembering my boyhood near that very scene. I think of the hot, unairconditioned summers we spent running around without a care; the crisp autumns with fallen leaves and gloomy days; the cold, snowy winters that made your eyes water; and the budding springs that were heaven after the months of cold.

Readings for Second Sunday of Advent (Dec. 8, 2002) Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11 Psalm 85:9-10, 11-12, 13-14 2 Peter 3:8-14 Mark 1:1-8

There's no hot in that painting; no fallen leaves; no snow; no new buds. Those things are in me, and the picture helps me recall those days and the place where I grew up.

We who are disciples of Jesus can have a similar experience. We come to church, kneel down to pray, and look up at the crucifix or the altar, see some flowers or plants, hear the music and join our voices in song and prayer - and some days it just takes us back.

Praying in church, whether the one we grew up in or another far from home in miles and years, takes us back to our days of innocence and youth.

Our life as members of the Church and disciples of Jesus takes us back, too, to the very time of the world's awaiting his coming, to the time of his birth and maturity, to the appearance of John the Baptist in the desert and at the river Jordan. We can hear the words of John, "prepare the way of the Lord." We can hear him promise that Jesus, the one who is coming, will baptize us with the Holy Spirit.

We are the beneficiaries of that promise, which comes to us from God through the preaching of John and through the life, ministry, suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus. "We await new heavens and a new earth," writes Saint Paul, "in which righteousness dwells." And so, Paul teaches us, we should be "eager to be found without spot or blemish before him."

Jesus takes us back to the time of his coming, to heal us of our brokenness. He takes us forward to the time when he will come again in glory, when peace shall be his everlasting gift to a new heaven and a new earth.

"Peace is flowing like a river," we sometimes sing. We can't see around the bend, but we can trust that Jesus is there, waiting for us just as we have waited for - and still await - his advent among us.

Fr. John G. Stillmank is Moderator of the Curia for the Diocese of Madison and pastor of St. Andrew Parish, Verona, and St. William Parish, Paoli.