Each Advent and each day of our lives we work and wait for the coming of the Jesus of Peace into our hearts 
and into our world.
 

And we know what that looks like:  in the midst of suffering, a comforting touch; in the midst of illness, healing 
care; in death, the embrace of love; in the midst of violence, the confrontation of compassion overcoming hate 
and justice dismantling the monuments of oppression.

When we die to our old hates and heal each other’s brokenness we bear witness to what is worthwhile in this life:  living compassionately and doing no harm to each other.

Through modern science we are discovering what the ancients knew all along, that the habitat of all beings is one
womb and the heart of all beings is one act of compassion in the eternal embrace of the Divine.

For the sun, moon and stars are the lights that have illumined our way from the beginning.  Herbs, trees and plants
have healed our sickness.  Rain, rivers and glaciers have nurtured life in all its forms.

The Jesus of Peace calls us to a radical faith in the reciprocity of all life.  We stand in solidarity, casting out demons
 of destruction, protecting the tortured, welcoming the outcast, making a place at the table for all.

The advent of peace begins in the heart where fear is cast out and reconciling love abides.  

In the prayer we whisper, the charity we share in, the service we give, it is the Jesus of Peace who takes, blesses,
and shares the sacred bread of his life and ours with all in the circle of life. 

The Jesus of peace calls us to a radical faith in the reciprocity of all life

Confronted with failure, abandonment, and a humiliating death Jesus remained
 faithful to his belief in a constant and eternal connectedness between human
living and loving and the Source of all existence.
                                                                                                                                         Michael Morwood

                                       I, the Creator, gave my people life.  Peace, peace to the far and the near, 
                                                             says the Lord; and I will heal them. 
                                                                                                                                                                      Isaiah 57:19

Your rule springs into existence as our arms reach out to embrace all creatures.  
From this divine union, let us birth new images for a new world.  
Create Your reign of unity now.
                                                                                                                                     Prayers of the Cosmos

The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ?  
The bread we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?  
Because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one body, 
for we all partake of the one loaf. 
                                                                                                                                         1 Corinthians 10: 16-17

We stand in solidarity making a place at the table for all

The tax collectors and the sinners, meanwhile, were all seeking his company to hear
what he had to say, and the Pharisees and the Scribes complained. 
"This man," they said," welcomes sinners and eats with them." 
                                                                                                                                               Luke 15: 1- 3

Jesus' respect for the dignity of everyone he encountered was boundless.  He treated each
individual as unique and lovable-- whether that person was a blind beggar, an epileptic, or a Roman centurion. 
He was particularly attentive to the needs of women and children.
                                                                                                                                   Albert Nolan

When the lives of people and of society are in accord with the reign of God, there will be a visible and tangible
restructuring of relationships, a restructuring that will be good news for the poor, the hungry,
the sad, the sick, the lame, the outcasts, and the unclean.  The reign of God that is found
within the unfolding of the entire universe must be rthe guiding vision of all people.
                                                                                                                                                    Jesus in the New Universe Story

Co-creation is a human responsibility that carries with it grave implications.  There are simply some divine
cravings in life-- the liberation of the poor, the equality of women, the humanity of the entire human
race-- that are worth striving for, living for, dying for, finished or unfinished,
for as long as it takes to achieve them.
                                                                                                                                                        Joan Chittister

We die to our old prejudices and heal others brokenness

The outward freedom that we shall attain will only be in exact proportion to the inward freedom
to which we have grown at a given moment.  And if this is the correct view of freedom, our chief
energy must be concentrated upon achieving reform from within.
                                                                                                                                                     Gandhi

 The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; 
He has sent me to bring glad tidings to the lowly; to heal the brokenhearted. . . 
                                                                                                                                                      Isaiah 61:1

The starting point of Jesus' spirituality, the experience of God as Abba. included the awareness 
that God was a loving Father to all human beings.  God loves and forgives all 
men, women and children unconditionally.  It was with this conviction 
that Jesus approached the people of his time.
                                                                                                                                                        Jesus Today

The daily bread of grace, without which nothing can be achieved, 
is given to the extent to which we ourselves give and forgive. 
                                                                                                                                                              Aldous Huxley 

We work and wait for the coming of the Jesus of peace

When we maintain ourselves as a system committed to love, we create a morphogenic field 
of peace, one in which gentleness and patience flow out of humble recognition of our connectedness to all...
The keeping of the memory and mission of Jesus is not about making him the object of our worship 
but about making ourselves the locus of the reign of God.
                                                                                                                                           Radical Amazement

And he gave some as apostles, others as prophets, others as evangelists, 
others as pastors and teachers to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry, 
for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of faith 
and knowledge of the son of God.  
                                                                                                                                                 Ephesians 4:11-13

Peace cannot come from anxiety but only from confidence.  Order is a precious gift from God.
Order is a task entrusted to us.  There is work to be done. The drive toward
well-being which God has ordained in this world is not self-actualizing and automatic.
It must be shephered and nurtured and dare we say even managed?
                                                                                                                                                     Walter Brueggemann

Life is a constant Advent season: we are continually waiting to become, 
to discover, to complete, to fulfill. Hope, struggle, fear, expectation and fulfillment 
are all part of our Advent experience. 
                                                                                                                               Annonymous

The heart of all beings is one act of compassion in the eternal
embrace of the Divine

Paying attention to God means the practice of compassion and justice.  They are God's passion.  
...compassion is to be the primary virtue shaping our relationships with each other.
Among other things, compassion means inclusiveness and inclusive caring.
                                                                                                                                              The Heart of Christianity

Aligned with the One are the compassionate; upon them shall be compassion.
                                                                                                                                                   Prayers of the Cosmos

We believe not only that God initiated the creation event, but that divine presence flows 
in and through the experience of ongoing creation.
                                                                                                                                          Radical Amazement

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, 
humility, gentleness, and patience bearing with one another and forgiving one another. . . 
as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must do. And over all of these put on love, 
that is the bond of perfection.  And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, 
the peace into which you were also called in one body.   
                                                                                                                                  Colossians 3: 12-15

We bear witness to what is worthwhile in this life

The emerging paradigm sees the Christian life as a life of relationship and transformation.
Being Christian is not about meeting requirements for a future reward
in an afterlife.  Rather, the Christian life is about a relationship with God that transforms 
life in the present.
                                                                                                                                       The Heart of Christianity

And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in God's Son. 
Whoever possess the son has life; whoever does not possess the son o f God does not have life.
                                                                                                                                                 1 John 5:11-12

We must overturn so many idols, the idol of self first of all, so that we can be humble, 
and only from our humility can learn to be redeemers, can learn to work together
 in the way the world really needs
                                                                                                                                          Archbishoip Oscar Romero

Again, the kingdom of God is like a merchant searching for fine pearls.  
When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.   
                                                                                                                                             Mathew 13:45-46