Kindness and truth shall meet; justice and peace shall kiss.

The images of Advent are powerful. This first Sunday of Advent, we express our yearning for the coming of the Christ: "Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, with the mountains quaking before you, while you wrought awesome deeds we could not hope for, such as they had not heard of from of old." In the responsorial psalm we sing: "O shepherd of Israel, hearken, from your throne upon the cherubim, shine forth. Rouse your power, and come to save us." As Advent continues, the themes of kindness, and peace, and justice, and expectation of the coming of Christ

are invoked over and over. We tell the stories of St. John the Baptist, and Mary and Elizabeth.

As the rest of the world sings Christmas carols and shops "till they drop", and then forgets about Christmas on December 26, the Catholic Church is counter-cultural as it waits in prayerful expectation for the coming of the newborn Jesus. For us, Christmas carols are first sung as we proclaim the joy of Christmas Eve and we continue singing Christmas music until the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord (Weekend of January 11).

Our musicians work extra hard during the season of Advent and Christmas. Profound gratitude to all of them as they rehearse, and rehearse, and rehearse to bring the joyful song of Christmas to our liturgies in this Christmas season. Usually, when I say thank you to one of our musicians, they say that it is God's work and only by the grace of God that they can sing or play a musical instrument. And they are right….but it also takes their hard work to bring God's gift of music through them as part of our liturgical prayer. So to all musicians….thank you!

For the Liturgical Musician, the making of music is not performance for an audience, but the liturgical musician joins with the assembly in prayer through music.

Blessings to all in this beautiful Advent season.