Isaiah 61:1 The spirit of the Lord God is upon me
    because the Lord has anointed me;
he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,
    to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives
    and release to the prisoners.

Good News, these are the two words that I, and maybe others, notice when reading Isaiah 61:1. The news we get today...TV and printed sources has been a bit heavy as we enter this Advent Season. Yet, the promise is there...a promise foretelling the birth of Jesus, seven centuries before Jesus was born.

Jesus actually made reference to this passage (Luke 4:18-21); essentially affirming he is the Good News. The oppressed, and broken-hearted will experience relief. Captives and prisoners will be freed. This is the Christmas gift. The Christ gift!

As I was considering this idea of this gift, I realized we must be part of the giving. We cannot expect this gift will be given..without us also giving. We must be there to comfort a neighbour, or possibly providing a meal for a homeless person. We must speak out when people whose faith, or life style is different than our own are being demeaned or threatened. We must live the life of a Christian.

Prayer: Dear Lord, the celebration of the Good News is almost at hand. Jesus has shown us the path. Humans tend to be slow learners and strife, wars, and hateful behaviours seem to cloud our vision as to what can be possible. Maybe we simply need to make the first words of the prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi our goal. Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Jesus came to teach us to love. Help us understand his teaching. Amen.

-Shirley Ann Hallee