“Advent is a moment of grace to take off our masks — every one of us has them — and line up with those who are humble, to be liberated from the presumption of the belief of being self-sufficient, to go to confess our sins, the hidden ones, and to welcome God’s pardon, to ask forgiveness from those whom we have offended.

“This is how to begin a new life. There is only one way, the way of humility — to be purified from the sense of superiority, from formalism and hypocrisy, to see ourselves, along with our brothers and sisters, as sinners, and to see Jesus as the Savior who comes for us, not for the others, for us, just as we are, with our poverty, misery and failings, above all with our need to be raised up, forgiven and saved.” (Pope Francis)

The call of Advent is to prepare the way for the Lord to come to us in this present moment. The words of Pope Francis helps us to do this. What is preventing us from being more open and vulnerable to the grace of God? What sin are we holding on to? What needs to be done to make room for Jesus in the very center of our lives? We can prepare a barn or we can give him the guest room. It is our choice. We can long for his coming and be excited when he comes. Or we can be caught off guard  and unprepared when he comes. Come, Lord Jesus, can be a prayer of the heart or prayer of the lips. Our hearts can be filled with many things or made emptied to receive the most important gift, Jesus.