The second week of Advent is symbolic of peace (shalom) and preparing for Christ’s arrival. We meditate on Joseph and Mary’s journey to Bethlehem, which is why the second candle we light on the Advent wreath is known as the “Bethlehem candle.” This is the week when we look to the journey we must take to discover who Jesus is. It’s often a rather tumultuous journey, especially for those most marginalized and oppressed. It’s about justice being restore to an upside down world where the prideful and rich devour the meek and poor. It’s the quest for peace and balance to be restored, through the coming of the Messiah. 
Think how difficult it must have been for Joseph and Mary to reach Bethlehem—the cold, harsh winds pushing on them as they made their way with little in earthly comforts. But it was the peace of God that filled them and enabled them to persevere.
This is also the week we dwell on the mystery of The Incarnation. 
Here is a beautiful Advent meditation on Christ’s Incarnation through Mary by St. Alphonsus Liguori: 

“O my Jesus, almighty and true God, what else could possibly have attracted you to come from heaven and be born in a cave, if not your love for us?
What convinced you to leave the lap of your Father and lay yourself down in a manger?
What drew you down from your throne above the stars to stretch yourself out on a little pile of straw?
What, from the midst of the nine choirs of angels, has placed you between these sheep and oxen?
You inflame the seraphim with holy fire, yet look, you tremble from the cold in this stable! You give the sun, the stars, and the planets their paths of movement, yet now you cannot move at all without being carried in someone's arms!
You provide food for all creatures, and yet now you depend on a little milk to sustain your life. You are the delight of heaven, and yet how is it that I now hear you whimper and cry? Tell me, who has reduced you to such lowliness? "Who has done this? Love has done it," says Saint Bernard. Yes, the love that you have for us has done it.”

Advent II

Composer & music producer of electronic, ambient, piano, EDM, and Jazz amalgamations. Music as spiritual gateway.

O God Eternal…“You awake us to delight in Your praise; for You made us for Yourself, and our heart is restless, until it rests in You.”
— St. Augustine

Advent II

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