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Advent II: And the darkness has not overcome it.

BY JESSICA GAPASIN DENNIS

I’ve been writing in fits and starts, but every time I do, it’s a reminder that sometimes, the practice of getting words onto paper is more often about obedience to the Holy Spirit more than anything else (and lo and behold, it’s always something I need to hear myself). Praying for light for you and those you love this Advent season.

WIT

This is a reflection on the readings for the 2nd Sunday of Advent. Click here to see the readings.

There’s a fine line between meaningful ritual and mindless repetition. Outwardly, both involve doing/saying the same thing day in and day out, or year in and year out, but ultimately, it is our interior dispositions that reveal the chasm between the two.

As a musician and liturgy student, I have always loved the richness and beauty of the liturgy, but if I’m being completely honest, this Advent I’ve been showing up to Mass, not in joyful anticipation of Christ’s birth, but completely out of habit.

Purple vestments? Check.

Advent wreath? Check.

Songs about preparation and hope? Check.

I sit in the pew, somewhat numb to the seasonally-appropriate readings that I’ve heard every three years since the beginning of time. I stand, sit, and kneel when I hear the rustling of…

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