As we celebrate the birth of God among us in the person of Jesus, our celebrations will be empty unless we in our turn become agents of peace and justice, of tolerance and encouragement, of forgiveness, hope and light for everyone we encounter. We send to one another at Christmas all manner of generous, loving and caring messages. Those messages will be meaningless unless we walk our talk and bring it to life in our actions and relating, writes Christian Brother Julian McDonald.

“Who are you?” and “Who am I?” are questions we all ask and explore at some time, or, rather, times, in our lives. In today’s gospel-reading, we meet a man who, simply and deeply knows the answer to these questions, writes Christian Brother Julian McDonald.

John the Baptist ushered in a new beginning in the story of God’s love for the world. That new beginning would be brought about through people, ourselves included, who would embrace a life-change, a conversion of mind and heart, demonstrated in action, writes Christian Brother Julian McDonald.

Today’s readings remind us that our lives are rather like a waiting-room, where we are confronted with both the preciousness and the fragility of our own lives, writes Christian Brother Julian McDonald.. We all know that our lives are also an experience of anticipating, expecting and hoping. Advent invites us to reflect on the importance of making the most of the present. - to be conscious of the importance of expressing our love and care and compassion and encouragement now.

The clear message of today’s gospel-reading is that our being taken up into God will be assessed on our history of shepherding those who have been neglected or overlooked by their officially appointed shepherds, writes Christian Brother Julian McDonald.