Advent II
The Collect
Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Old Testament
Baruch 5:1-9
Take off the garment of your sorrow and affliction, O Jerusalem, and put on forever the beauty of the glory from God. Put on the robe of the righteousness that comes from God; put on your head the diadem of the glory of the Everlasting; for God will show your splendor everywhere under heaven. For God will give you evermore the name, "Righteous Peace, Godly Glory." Arise, O Jerusalem, stand upon the height; look toward the east, and see your children gathered from west and east at the word of the Holy One, rejoicing that God has remembered them. For they went out from you on foot, led away by their enemies; but God will bring them back to you, carried in glory, as on a royal throne. For God has ordered that every high mountain and the everlasting hills be made low and the valleys filled up, to make level ground, so that Israel may walk safely in the glory of God. The woods and every fragrant tree have shaded Israel at God's command. For God will lead Israel with joy, in the light of his glory, with the mercy and righteousness that come from him.
Canticle 16 The Song of Zechariah
Blessed be the Lord, 
the God of Israel; *
he has come to his people
and set them free.
He has raised up for us
a mighty savior, *
born of the house of his servant David.
Through his holy prophets he promised of old,
that he would save us from our enemies, *
from the hands of all who hate us.
He promised to show mercy to our fathers *
and to remember his holy covenant.
This was the oath he swore
to our father Abraham, *
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
Free to worship him without fear, *
holy and righteous in his sight
all the days of our life.
You, my child, shall be called
the prophet of the Most High, *
for you will go before the Lord
to prepare his way,
To give his people knowledge of salvation *
by the forgiveness of their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God *
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
To shine on those who dwell in darkness
and the shadow of death, *
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit: *
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and will be for ever. Amen.
The New Testament
Philippians 1:3-11
I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because you hold me in your heart, for all of you share in God's grace with me, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.
The Gospel
Luke 3:1-6
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,
"The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
'Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.
Every valley shall be filled,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall be made straight,
and the rough ways made smooth;
and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'"
Dear Elizabeth,
I have been thinking of you and all your kindness to me. Our time together was peaceful and full of laughter. Not so much now. I feel as if I am in some wilderness with no way to find my way back home. And yet, I am at home, although it is nothing like when I left. There is a heaviness and a sorrow that covers everything. If feels as if some member of our family has died, when in truth, I am the cause of this sad atmosphere. Mama and Papa welcomed me back but have acted so differently to me. Joseph is about the only person I can talk to, since he too is looked on with great suspicion. No matter what we say, we feel people looking at us with judgement.
I have had to stop going to market with Mama, as I am showing now. Someone threw a rock in my direction last time and another hissed at me. My parents say they believe me, but you can see the hurt and shame in their eyes. Joseph is the voice of comfort in these hard days.
We are planning a wedding, to take place soon in the house. It will just be the immediate family. Papa has a cousin who is a rabbi. He lives quite a ways from us and has promised to come and marry us. He is a sweet man. I have always liked him and now, I love him even more. He spoke no judgement when Papa went to him. He was comforting and reassuring to Papa, which has helped some.
I feel like some great burden to my parents and they worry about me night and day. They keep me indoors during the day so as not to be seen and draw criticism from passersby. This blessing from God seems too often like an unbearable burden. And yet, at night, when I sit out in the cool garden, and look up at the stars, I know that I am loved and called to this very time and place. And as always, I covet your payers.
love,
Mary
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