Today is International Migrants Day. It’s the third week of Advent. Today I reflect on Mary’s words ringing out, “ He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.” It is hard for me to hear these words today, thinking of those experiencing unfathomable violence in Gaza, those people who have fled their homes and are waiting at the border, and many who, years after the pandemic are STILL struggling to get food on their tables, while the richest people in the world are still getting a whole lot richer. Yet, this is the hope of Emmanuel (God with us) Jesus didn’t ask us to transcend this world, but to fully be in it. To be here, sheltering the stranger, feeding the hungry, and making sure everyone has enough. If you are looking for Emmanuel this advent season, don’t go looking toward heaven, look around you, look at the simple meals you share together, even moments to see faces on zoom, in the sick, poor and vulnerable in our communities, this is what God with us is. Communion. Icon: Mother of God: Protectress of the Oppressed Prints and prayer candles: kellylatimoreicons.com

Happy Advent! “God’s being unexplainably born in our hearts moment by moment, breath by breath.” ~ James Finley Icon: La Sagrada Familia Prints and Prayer Candles: kellylatimoreicons.com #advent