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Advent is about "preparation". It is not a "penitential" season. Mary's preparation for Christmas was not penitential. So, we have a real invitation to joyful preparation, to getting ready. Most times we know what we're getting ready for, but sometimes, we don't - like Mary. Then we have to get ready to "welcome the unexpected", work with our best guess, previous experiences, graced intuitions. We can't just twiddle our thumbs and "hope for the best".

 

Within the past couple of weeks, I went to see the movie "Bonhoeffer" from Angel Studios. I had got ready long, long before. Months and months ago I paid for my ticket - $5.00 - thanks to Angel Studios. It was time so very well spent. I learned a great deal. I had had no idea of his connection to the Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York, or even his time in the United States. Yes, there were certain inaccuracies. The lesson was that everything is connected, everyone is connected. The "Other" may shift in identity over the years, but the evil premise is still the same.

 

"In a positive review, Joe Leydon of Variety wrote, "If it had been released just two years ago, Bonhoeffer might have come across as simply the latest in a long line of respectable but predictable period dramas about brave Germans who dared to stand up to the Nazi regime. Today, however, the movie feels more like an uncomfortably timely cautionary tale with unsettling echoes of current events." Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin.' Review: A Timely Anti-Nazi Epic (variety.com)

​And so, it is true that we must prepare, must be ready, to confront what is ahead, as Bonhoeffer was.

 

This week I went to an event sponsored by the Lynn Human Rights Commission: "Building Bridges: Finding Strength in Uncertain Times". I was lucky. It was held just around the corner from me. There was translation. We can be certain of one thing. There will be attacks on immigrants:  https://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/-separated-examines-the-impact-of-trump-s-immigration-policy-226136133528? I wish I could see this on MSNBC, but I do not get cable. Maybe you do. Maybe in time it will be more available. I hope it will be "in time".  As Maya Angelou says, "When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time."

The meeting was very good. It is important to prepare. Certainly, religious organizations should be attuned to that since this IS the season to "Prepare". That does not mean early shopping or Black Friday deals. We should remember that, following Jesus' birth, Mary, Joseph, and Jesus fled into Egypt. They were "refugees", "undocumented migrants fleeing threats".