As we enter the second week of Advent, we are presented with the exciting and prophetic voice of John the Baptist; he stands in that strong line of Jewish prophets who are often 'a voice crying in the wilderness' (Isa 40:3). Time and time again, God chose these men and women to act as mirrors to human society: they offered a vision that many found difficult to follow. Isaiah offers us an amazing vision, taken up by Matthew and the reconciliation ministry of John: the Messiah will make 'a straight highway for our God across the desert. Let every valley be filled in, every mountain and hill be laid low…then the glory of God will be revealed, and all shall see it.' (Isa 40 4-5). It has not been an easy path for all of us in these past few years: we have experienced all kinds of woes and problems—medical, economic, and unspeakable violence. John is given to us today as the enabler. He comes full of empathy and compassion to help us all move forward; Mark presents the crowds coming to him in the River Jordan for baptism: using water as a symbol of cleansing. Through this ritual, the crowds: 'confessing their sins, they were baptised by him in the Jordan River (see Mk 1: 3:6). God wants to make things easy for us by making sure the paths are straight and I find it ironic that we, as a Church, can make people jump through hoops and can make their path, their Camino, so difficult. Albert Einstein, on being told that the United States Declaration of Independence was "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness," he used to say the pursuit of happiness is for idiots. That seems a rather sweeping statement and I am sure that he did not want to disrespect the US Constitution, but what is it that makes us fully happy? Certainly, a global pandemic has taught us that our health is so important; Einstein could say with confidence:

"You should pursue truth. You should pursue beauty. Not running around trying to be happy, happy, happy, buying things, doing things that will make you happy, happy, happy. Because they are never going to make you happy."

Today, John points to the one who will make you truly and fully happy. Like all good disciples, John points to a truth beyond himself: as those roads are straightened out and the valleys filled in, we have an easy access to a God who loves us unconditionally and will be our source of happiness and joy. As you light that second candle and bask in the gift of peace you have been given, you can take stock of your life and point to the areas that bring you happiness - name those areas and show your gratitude.

Jesus was never fazed by difficulties, nor were those who NEEDED to see him. In today's Gospel, Luke recounts the men carrying their crippled friend on a stretcher; 'but as the crowd made it impossible to find a way of getting him in, they went up onto the flat roof and lowered him and his stretcher down.' (Lk 5:19). These friends do everything they can to make sure that their troubled friend can meet Jesus and find healing - they do not care what it takes. They say that necessity is the mother of invention and we certainly had to be inventive during the pandemic times: our patience was tried and tested, and we had to find new ways of getting close to Jesus and others, even when social distancing was in play. Of course, we need guidelines, rules, and regulations, but just like the friends of the sick man, we will sometimes have to put protocol to one side for the greater good--thank God for that little bit of 'rebel' that is in you.

In so many ways, Jesus' parable of 'The Lost Sheep' makes no economic sense: why would the shepherd risk the safety of the ninety-nine in favour of the lost one? It makes no sense at all unless YOU are that lost one. Jesus shows us where his pastoral priorities lie; as a Church, Pope Francis constantly reminds us that our care is for everyone, not just the ones who happen to come to the church building. We are a Church of inclusivity, joy, and welcome.

We can pray: Dear God, Thank you that you love us so much and always will, no matter what we do or where we go. Thank you that you will always chase after us like that lost sheep. Thank you that you show us how to love others and we ask that you help us to grow in showing and sharing that love. We pray that this week in all that we do, that we would know your love deeply and that we would know that you're by our side helping us and loving us! Amen

Our Lady of Guadalupe first introduced herself as the mother of God, and the mother of all humanity, when she appeared on the hill of Tepeyac in Mexico in 1531. A local Aztec farmer and convert to Christianity, Juan Diego, saw a glowing figure on the hill. After she had identified herself to him, Our Lady asked that Juan build her a shrine in that same spot, for her to show and share her love and compassion with all those who believe. Afterwards, Juan Diego visited Juan de Zumárraga, who was Archbishop of what is now Mexico City. Zumárraga dismissed him in disbelief and asked that the future Saint provide proof of his story and proof of the Lady's identity. Although it was winter and nothing should have been in bloom, Juan Diego found an abundance of flowers of a type he had never seen before. The Virgin bundled the flowers into Juan's cloak, known as a 'tilma'. When Juan Diego presented the tilma of exotic flowers to Zumárraga, the flowers fell out and he recognised them as Castilian roses, which are not found in Mexico. This actual tilma, preserved since that date and showing the familiar image of the Virgin Mary with her head bowed and hands together in prayer, represents the Virgin of Guadalupe. It remains perhaps the most sacred object in all of Mexico. What was even more significant, however, was that the tilma had been miraculously imprinted with a colourful image of the Virgin herself.

There is no doubt that we have been overburdened during the difficult experiences of lives: from economic meltdown to a global pandemic: we have been scared, frightened, challenged, and reflective. It has brought out the best in us, but, if you are like me, there have been some teary wobbles too. In Matthew's Gospel today, Jesus urges his followers to 'come to me all you who labour and over-burdened, and I will give you rest...I am gentle...you will find rest' (Mt 11: 28-29). Even in the best of times, we will find ourselves doing too much; we are all guilty of being 'too active' following the 'Martha school' rather than the 'Mary school'! Jesus wants us to be involved as fully as we can in apostolic ministry, but not at the expense of our well-being. The danger is that we feel that we must be so 'committed' to the Gospel that it leads to burnout and health breakdown. We all need to place our troubles and worries with the Lord and adopt the attitude and prayer of 'we can do this together, Lord.' In his most recent encyclical letter 'Fratelli Tutti', Pope Francis urges us all to support each other: the pandemic has proved that we can only get through difficult situations by working TOGETHER. We all need a sense of 'shalom' or inner peace and today we are reminded to find that quiet space (even if it is in our mind) and look for your needed rest time today.

Lucy's history has been lost and all we really know for certain, is that this brave woman who lived in Syracuse, lost her life during the persecution of Christians in the early fourth century. Her veneration spread to Rome so that by the sixth century the whole Church recognised her courage in defence of the faith. Lucy, whose name can mean "light" or "lucid," is the patron saint of the blind. She is often seen with the emblem of eyes on a cup or plate. In paintings, she is often depicted with a golden plate holding her eyes and often holds a palm branch, which is a symbol of victory over evil. It is traditional in the Nordic countries for young girls to carry candles, even on their heads, in memory of this martyr.

Today the Church gives us a sixteenth century Spanish Carmelite frier to reflect on; in this time of Advent, we are given another 'prophet' to think about. St. Teresa of Avila persuaded John to work with her on the REFORM of the Carmelites: together they wanted to return to a stricter way of life, envisaged by their founders, with more regulated prayer times, fasting and style of the religious habit. As with all change, some can adapt and cope, while others fight it—the Carmelites had their own 'civil war', with John being eventually imprisoned by his fellow friars. During this time of 'lockdown' he composed some of his most amazing works, as he experienced 'the dark night of the soul'. For John this was the journey of the soul from its bodily home to union with God. It happens during the "dark", which represents the hardships and difficulties that we all must face so that we can reach the light of the union with the Creator. Without a doubt the start of this decade was a 'dark night' for many of us, as we were without the support and the human touch of loved ones who could not be included in our 'social bubble' due to distancing or the need to shield. Today, we still see the horrors of a pandemic of hatred and bitterness across the globe which shows itself in bitter partisan and extreme politics.

We will all have to face problems, crises and hurt during life—sometimes, just like John, the problems come from those we live with, those we are close to and those who know us best. I feel that it was this betrayal that hurt John the most: to be let down by family and friends is so difficult to come to terms with. In this Camino we are striving to achieve a peace and unity that Christ offers us, but please be conscious of those for whom Christmas will only drag up painful memories. For some, Christmas Day is the loneliest day of the year. It can be so difficult to enter the festive mood when you are wounded and broken; as we experience the darkness, let us look to the light—a pot that is cracked can let the light in!

I think many of us can identify with the frustration that Jesus expresses in the gospel today: we are 'damned if we do and damned if we don't!' The children, in Jesus's word, cry out: 'we played the pipes for you, and you wouldn't dance; we sang dirges and you wouldn't be mourners.' (Mat 11: 17) You just cannot please some people and that is dangerous, especially as we attempt to understand the world around us amidst the conflicts happening all around the world. Change is not easy and some cope with it better than others. However, we need to cope with change in all aspects of our life from work and schooling to sport and relaxation-life. Thankfully our experience of Advent 2023 will be totally different to the lockdown Advent of 2020. We need to ensure that we all have a proper work-life balance and that the rest times, that Jesus called for, are put into our busy schedules: we are not 'possessed' (Mt 11: 18), nor are we 'gluttons' or 'drunkards' (Mt 11: 19)All of us involved in pastoral ministry will know that we are not going to please all of the people all of the time, but we must not let the fear of making a mistake put us off. What do you do to encourage and build up? Do you pour cold water on any new initiative? Are you so selfish that you cannot open your heart to change and a different approach? Let us pray today for balance and a spirit of acceptance-it will go such a long way in these changing times.

The scripture scholar Megan McKenna always insists that you read the context of any scripture passage, otherwise it is just an isolated or random reading - it may well inspire, but we need a grounding and context. I firmly believe that many of the world's problems could be sorted if we simply appreciated 'where people are coming from', as the popular saying has it. Today's Gospel reading comes in the context of the Transfiguration event (Mt 17: 1-8); Jesus has taken his inner circle of Peter, James, and John up the mountain. There they experience the glory of radiant change as 'his face shone like the sun and his clothes became as white as the light' (Mt 17: 2). This vision of glory is shared with the symbol of Jewish Law, Moses and the symbol of Jewish Prophecy, Elijah. In his usual reckless spontaneity, Peter wants to STAY there in this ideal world, but Jesus, ever the realist, sees the need to 'come down from the mountain' (Mt 17: 9) and be fully incarnate in a real world - this is what Christmas is all about. In today's discussion with the disciples, Jesus sees the need to recognise the strength of prophetic witness; the prophets like John the Baptist and Elijah are faithful witnesses to God, often in the face of extreme opposition and death. The birth of the Messiah in Bethlehem is beautiful, and we can make it nice and cosy - however, the baby of the manger grows up to the challenge and make demands of us. The true prophets of God know pain and hurt, and Jesus can see that the 'Son of Man will suffer similarly' (Mt 17: 12).