When it comes to breaking the cycle of hunger and poverty, few tools are as important as education. In fact, the World Bank estimates that each year of additional schooling can increase a child’s future earnings by 8-10%. Ensuring that children have access to education and educational support, though, is a difficult goal to reach, and the COVID-19 pandemic has created even more obstacles for communities in need.

In Romania, the Evangelical Parish in Sibu has been hard at work adapting to these new challenges. The “Open House” Day Center of the parish has provided support to children and families since 2001, accompanying 30-45 children throughout the year with its many programs. The center’s mission is to help families with children between six and 16 years old who face high rates of poverty, domestic violence, social and ethnic discrimination, and exploitation. To support them, the center provides counseling, food, preventative health care, and a safe place for children to learn and grow.

The pandemic has made this work much more difficult. The parents who had jobs have lost them, and many families cannot afford food, clothing, heating or school supplies. Many children don’t have access to the internet or the equipment they need to participate in online schooling.

The center, though, is adapting to the new challenges and pressing on toward its mission. This year, with support from ELCA World Hunger, the center continues to provide school supplies and clothing for children to help meet the increased needs of families, including for children who do not have the equipment they need for online learning. “Open House” has also adapted by sending care packages home for families and providing social worker home visits to make sure children and their families have the support they need.

The children are also able to participate in fun activities, such as making crafts. As Diana Fruman of “Open House” shares, “More and more children are getting enthusiastic about handicrafts. Some of them are very talented and create beautiful works.”

The “beautiful work” of God through the “Open House” center is not limited to crafts, though. It can be seen in the new opportunities created by the staff, volunteers, parents and children who are working together at the center. As Diana says, “Every hour [the children] spend here…is another chance for them and their future.”

That’s one of the reasons that, despite the ongoing pandemic, Diana is hopeful for the future and grateful for the support the center has received. “Thanks to your help,” she writes, “we were able to carry out further aid measures this year…[Your] great willingness to help and your donations have made and will continue to make our work here at ‘Open House’ possible.”

Because of the ongoing work of God through the center and its participants, we can join Diana in her hopeful wishes for what is to come:

“On behalf of all our children and staff, we wish you a blessed Advent season, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.”

The days of Christmas are typically a time to sing beloved carols. This year when we are gathered in our homes, it may be especially comforting to sing familiar Christmas carols. While singing songs etched on our minds and hearts is important, we affirm that as creative people made in God’s image we create and seek out new ways to sing the story of Christmas.

All Creation Sings provides six hymns and songs under the Christmas heading; the topical index offers additional suggestions. While some of these may be familiar from their inclusion in other resources, some are brand new to an ELCA worship book. One of these is the hymn, “Night Long-Awaited / Noche anunciada” by Félix Luna (text) and Ariel Ramírez (music).

While new to our resources, this hymn was composed in the 1960s. It is an excerpt from “Navidad Nuestra: A Folk Drama of the Nativity Based on the Rhythms and Traditions of Hispanic America.” Published for mixed chorus and soloists with percussion, guitar and harpsichord/piano, it included text in both Spanish and English. The performance notes in the original score describe it: “Navidad Nuestra—Our Nativity—was created for a criollo retable—a native tableau—where each moment of the Mystery of the Incarnation is expressed in a popular manner, with all the tenderness that the Miracle of two thousand years ago evokes in the spirit of the simple people.” Each section used a different regional voice.

Félix Luna, Argentine poet, collaborated with Ariel Ramírez, an Argentine and internationally celebrated choral composer, in this tender and simple hymn. Of course, we are also indebted to the work of translators. The version of “Night Long-Awaited” in All Creation Sings was translated by Adam Tice (ACS also includes five of his original hymns). Translations allow the texts to speak anew to us in every generation, but it’s interesting to point out one feature of the original text that changed over time.

The end of stanza two of the version published for mixed chorus in 1965 reads:

When He is smiling, Radiance glows,
And in His arms, a tiny cross grows.

The recent translation reads:

Light for our shadows, grace for our loss;
Born for our dying, bearing our cross.

Both settings connect the incarnation to the death of Jesus.

Unlike “Silent Night,” this hymn incorporates “redeeming grace” with more direct references to the arc of salvation through Jesus, that “all that is broken shall be restored” (stanza 2). Like “Silent Night,” the music ushers us into a sense of stillness and awe, complete with beautiful four-part harmony.

Several recordings exist of this. José Carreras sings the hymn in this recording. Though it is pitched in a higher key, it captures the simple beauty of this hymn. You can also hear it in the key of C in this less formal recording.

The hymn concludes:

Now is God’s promise born in the night,
wake to its fullness; live in its light.
Christ comes among us; people, draw near!
Come to the manger; Christmas is here.

May a treasury of songs, both old and new, fill your hearts and homes this Christmas.

To learn more about All Creation sings, visit www.augsburgfortress.org/AllCreationSings.

Night Long-Awaited / Noche anunciada
Text: Félix Luna, 1925-2009; tr. Adam M. L. Tice, b. 1979
Music: Ariel Ramírez, 1921-2010
Text and music © 1965 Lawson-Gould, admin. Alfred Music
Permission required for further use.

Image: Sundays and Seasons

Following are updates shared from submissions of the Lutheran Office for World Community and state public policy offices.

United Nations

Dennis Frado, Lutheran Office for World Community, United Nations, New York, N.Y. https://elca.org/lowc

16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence: Every year, the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence begin on 25 November – on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and concludes on December 10 – International Human Rights Day. This year, the 2020 UNiTE Campaign Theme is: “Orange the World: Fund, Respond, Prevent, Collect!”.

LWF’s global communion of 148 churches, representing over 77 million Christians in 99 countries, is joining the UN, Member States, civil society activists and faith-based partners during these 16 Days of Activism to raise awareness and call for action for an end to Gender-Based Violence. It is clear that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated gender inequality and exposed other forms of discrimination and violation of women and girls’ human rights. LOWC’s Program Director has helped organize, together with faith partners, several events including panels on the Shadow Pandemic: Faith actors preventing, responding, and advocating to end gender-based Violence, and A Faith Imperative for Human Rights.

United Nations has released $25 million to UNFPA and UN Women to fund women-led projects fighting gender-based violence. Read UN Women’s call to action to respond to the surge of violence against women and girls. UNFPA has launched its first Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) data dashboard, a helpful resource for prevention and responses efforts.

We must not stay silent. Here are few examples of what you can do:

Support services for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence
Watch the LWF General Secretary Rev. Dr. Martin Junge about the importance of working to end Gender-Based Violence in our churches and in our societies
Hold a prayer service. See our suggested worship resources here and here.
Sign up online for our joint panel discussions on advocacy, theology, human rights, gender justice, engaging men and community responses. See Side by Side – Faith movement for gender justice events here and Ecumenical Women at the UN 16 Days blogs.
Make the Thursdays In Black pledge

International Migration – An On-going Concern: International migration remains a topic of on-going concern at the United Nations. People continue to be on the move, some driven by climate change or political upheaval, some because they wish or see an opportunity for a better life. These then remain as topics for discussion in various UN fora. A recent overview of many of the issues is contained in the first biennial report, launched on December 1, of UN Secretary-General António Guterres on implementation of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration. He noted: “The Compact reflects a growing global understanding of the great benefits of human mobility. But it also recognizes that, if poorly managed, migration can generate huge challenges, from a tragic loss of life to rights abuses and social tensions. COVID-19 has heightened those challenges and had negative effects on more than 2.7 million migrants, particularly on women and girls.”

He concluded with several recommendations: “First and foremost, we must embrace the spirit of collaboration. No country can address migration alone. Second, the pandemic has highlighted the value of migrant labor,” observing that many of those providing essential health and care services are migrant women. “Third, we must address discrimination and foster social inclusion and cohesion between host communities and migrants. Migrants should not be stigmatized or denied access to medical treatment and other public services. We must strengthen the immunity of our societies against the virus of hate.” Earlier this year, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants issued a “report on ending immigration detention of children and seeking adequate reception and care for them.” The report took up a wide variety of situations, including that in the United States, and was discussed in mid-October in the Third Committee of the General Assembly. Another key, unresolved issue related to climate-induced migration is its relationship to international peace and security and, thus, the purview of the Security Council. Small Island states, such as the Marshall Islands, have noted the irony of the Council’s involvement in approving the admission of Member States while being unwilling to take up the security and other risks to their very existence.

On December 18, several nongovernmental organizations — with whom LOWC has been collaborating in a civil society action committee on migration – will host an online event “International Migrants Day: Global Celebration of Our Rights and Our Struggle for Justice” to discuss key migration issues including wage theft, detention and climate justice and mobility.

California

Regina Q. Banks, Lutheran Office of Public Policy- California https://lutheranpublicpolicyca.org/

Tracking Legislators: The office in California has begun work on tracking legislators and their staff, in connection with various coalitions, for the purpose of keeping lawmakers accountable. LOPP-CA is helping organizations keep track of changes in seats after California’s November election, as well as mapping the political landscape for an upcoming 2021 advocacy year.

Post-election Coalition moments: LOPP-CA is doing meaningful work with their partner coalitions; alongside California’s Food and Farming Network, the office is in conversation to set strategy for next year’s advocacy, as well as continuing the commitment of racial justice within food advocacy. The Building the California Dream Alliance, of which LOPP is a member, is also having strategy meetings for the coming year, as well as creating new tools to communicate with legislators who have been hard to reach during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Colorado

Peter Severson, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry-Colorado https://www.rmselca.org/advocacy

Election Results: Coloradans voted on 11 statewide ballot measures in November. Lutheran Advocacy took a position on six of these measures. All three of the ones we supported were passed on November 3!

      Proposition 118will create a paid family and medical leave program. After many years of supporting creative but unsuccessful legislative efforts, we are thrilled that voters made it abundantly clear that Coloradans want paid leave. The measure passed with 57% Yes.
      Amendment Bwill repeal the Gallagher Amendment, a provision dating to the early 1980s which fixed the ratio of residential and commercial property tax revenue. The net effect in the last decade was ratcheting down residential property tax revenues every year, meaning less revenue for schools, libraries, parks, fire and water services, and other needs.
      Proposition 113approved the National Popular Vote Compact. Coloradans support a presidential election system that will bypass the outdated, inequitable Electoral College in favor of a popular vote.

In addition, three measures we opposed also passed, including a flat tax cut that will benefit median taxpayers in a small way but will enrich the wealthiest taxpayers significantly, requiring $160 million in budget cuts in 2021. We anticipate continuing to advocate on these issues in the coming session.

Special Session: A special legislative session took place from November 30 through December 2, supporting small business, arts organizations, renters, the unemployed, and other groups needing immediate support in the wake of federal inaction.

Policy Agenda Passed: The Policy Committee of Lutheran Advocacy Ministry-Colorado passed our 2021 agenda on November 13. Find out more at lam-co.org.

Florida

Russell Meyer, Florida Faith Advocacy Office https://floridachurches.org/advocacy/

The Florida Faith Advocacy Office of the Florida Council of Churches (FCC) will hold its online assembly on Jan. 7, 2021. See https://floridachurches.org/flash2020.

The assembly will bring together mainline, Black, and Latinx church leaders to develop a jubilee movement in the state capitol. The FCC along with local partners has trained 40+ community leaders in World Café hosting in St. Petersburg as part of an initiative to reimagine civic engagement. Logistic support for Black Lives movement is ongoing, with a current focus on the death of a Black vet while in custody of the Brevard sheriff. Along with many partners, we are questioning proposed anti-protesting legislation which brings back the horrors of the Black Codes. We urge health protocols, wearing of masks, and the necessity of a statewide response to pandemic. In pressing for a second COVID-19 relief package. We also seek robust support for international humanitarian assistance. The successes of ending poverty that kills have been reversed under the pandemic. The world needs a big American heart now. We have the resources for helping hurting people both here and abroad. Faith leaders need to say this clearly and publicly. It is the high calling of our spiritual work. The Florida legislature takes up its pre-assembly work in mid-January, for the March-May session. A new alert system will be rolled out in 2021 to keep advocates advised of where their voices are most required.

Email advocacy@floridachurches.org for more information.

Minnesota

Tammy Walhof, Lutheran Advocacy – Minnesota http://www.lutheranadvocacymn.org/

Legislative Session 2021: Along with our partners, we have been considering, debating, and deciding on priority issues for the 2021 session. The LA-MN Policy Council will be meeting soon to determine our foci amid many needs.

Election 2020: The balance in the legislature has not changed dramatically. The most important change is that the balance of power between the political parties is even tighter than it was before the election. To accomplish our agenda, we need our advocates to build strong relationships with their legislators, especially in Greater Minnesota. While many relationships already exist, remote legislative work means legislators are less accessible in St. Paul.

COVID-19 Housing Relief: Minnesota cannot wait for Congress and the Federal Government to act. It was hoped that a package could be negotiated and ready by early December. Unfortunately, some leaders are calling for narrow business relief, but are not addressing other relief.

If housing aid is not passed, Minnesota will soon face a grave housing crisis! Hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans are behind on rent and mortgages. Without aid, we could have a housing crisis worse than the 2008 crash. This would cause unprecedented homelessness and even deeper affordable housing issues than we have already faced for more than a decade.

Businesses will not recover if people are struggling with basic housing and food stability. Our state economy will take much longer to recover from COVID-19 if families cannot meet their basic needs! Take Action Now! Find your MN State Senator & Representative and their contact info at https://www.gis.leg.mn/iMaps/districts/.

Pennsylvania

Tracey DePasquale, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry–Pennsylvania (LAMPa) https://www.lutheranadvocacypa.org/

ELCAvotes: LAMPa staff encouraged and provided information for advocates to be trained and serve as nonpartisan poll monitors, as well as shared an ongoing social media presence on election day to be able to respond with information and assistance in cases of voter confusion or potential voter suppression.  Lutheran advocates joined demonstrations around the commonwealth to protect the vote count in the days following the election. LAMPa staff and volunteers had contacted election offices in all 67 counties, to assess their preparedness and identify opportunities for our congregations to help, particularly as polling sites or as poll workers and volunteers. LAMPa followed up after Nov. 3, thanking elections workers for their service under tremendous pressure.

Civic Engagement: Discipleship in a Democracy: LAMPa Director Tracey DePasquale participated as a state policy office adviser in the first working session of the task force developing the new ELCA social statement. Earlier this year, LAMPa held an official listening session in the development of the newly adopted social message on the same topic. The development of the social statement will be a five-year process.

Addressing Homelessness, Looming Eviction Crisis: As the federal eviction moratorium deadline draws near LAMPa shared an alert and survey with congregations and constituents seeking their input. Congregations and groups providing sheltering programs were asked to respond to a survey lifting the voice of those facing or experiencing homelessness. LAMPa shared alerts seeking constituents’ voices to speak up for vulnerable neighbors as state lawmakers finalized the budget for the remainder of the fiscal year. Advocates were asked to contact their state lawmakers to ask them to fix and fund a rental and mortgage assistance program to keep PA residents in their homes. Read more.

Washington 

Paul Benz and Elise DeGooyer, Faith Action Network https://fanwa.org/

FAN’s 2021 State Legislative Agenda: With approval of our Governing Board, FAN announced our 2021 State Legislative Agenda. Our six main topics this year are Advocating for a Biennial Budget that Reflects Our Values as a State; Reforming our Policing and Criminal Justice Systems; Creating Housing Opportunities and Preventing Homelessness; Addressing Climate Change; Protecting Immigrants, Civil and Human Rights for All; and Ensuring Health Care and Mental Health Access. See the full list of bills at fanwa.org/advocacy/legislative-agenda/. We will be holding three virtual Advocacy Days in Olympia, Central WA, and Eastern WA as well as sharing weekly action items in our E-News as ways for advocates to use their voices in the 2021 legislative session.

Faith Leaders Speak on COVID Safety: ELCA Bishop Shelley Bryan Wee from the NW WA Synod shared an idea for faith leaders to make a COVID-19 safety video, similar to FAN’s Census video we made earlier this year. These trusted messengers remind us of the important role faith leaders and communities must play in keeping EVERYONE safe by wearing a mask, keeping distance, and ensuring COVID-19 is not passed on in our communities. See their video on YouTube: youtu.be/OvX6_kdT6hQ

FAN Annual Dinner 2020: On November 15, FAN hosted our first virtual Annual Dinner fundraiser, “Rise Up Together,” and exceeded our goal of $130,000! Advocates met in local Zoom pre-parties, then joined us on YouTube for an evening of statewide calls to action, a look at the 2021 legislative session, a special appearance by our friend and matching donor Rick Steves, and beautiful music and poetry. Read our event recap at fanwa.org/annual-dinner/.

Wisconsin

The Rev. Cindy Crane, Lutheran Office for Public Policy in Wisconsin (LOPPW) https://www.loppw.org/

This month, LOPPW was busy preparing our advocacy priorities for the next legislative session while also rebuking our state’s inadequate response to the COVID-19 pandemic. On November 16th, LOPPW, in collaboration with our interfaith partners, hosted our “Faithful Action for a Healthy Wisconsin” event, a virtual rally urging lawmakers to take substantive action to protect frontline workers, take additional pandemic mitigation steps, and show support and solidarity for the religious and government leaders boldly trying to protect their communities. This event had hundreds of attendees and was picked up my numerous local news stations. We are using the momentum from this event to conduct virtual meetings with leadership in the State Legislature to push for additional action.

Outside of COVID-19 advocacy, Kyle is helping kickstart work within our criminal justice and immigration reform priorities. He is working towards a coalition to raise the age of juvenile jurisdiction in Wisconsin and institute other reforms to the juvenile justice system. While the coalition is still in its infancy, he is confident that LOPPW can be a voice for juvenile justice reform in the future. Kyle is also starting advocacy efforts with our local synod immigration & refugee task forces to advocate locally for immigration reform to their county sheriffs.

As we approach the end of the year, Cindy will hopefully be able to provide a sturdier foundation for the above initiatives and build active coalitions and campaigns to address these important policy reforms.

This advent reflection is part of ELCA World Hunger’s 2020 Advent Study. You can download the full study here. You can also download the corresponding advent calendar here.

Advent Week Three

“Comfort”

Read

Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11
Psalm 126
I Thessalonians 5:16-24
John 1:6-8, 19-28

Study

Volunteering has always been the lifeblood of Cacilda Rodrigues Barcelos. Born in São Borja, Brazil, she moved at age 13 with her family to the metropolitan region of Porto Alegre. Alone, her mother raised 11 daughters and sons, until her 50th birthday, when she died. Cacilda was 22 at the time, and the community helped to support her. “People taught me how to do what I do, because I was welcomed by them,” she says.

Now 63, Cacilda has dedicated years to giving back through volunteering. Early on, she worked with young boys in the community to make and sell food at fairs to help pay for uniforms and tournaments for their soccer team. Today, as a member of the management board of the Fair Trade and Solidarity Network (a project of the diakonia foundation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil), she helps train other women in entrepreneurship and helps plan workshops and fairs where they sell their goods. She also volunteers in the Peace Service and teaches women to prevent and overcome violence.

As much as Cacilda has changed her community, the biggest change has been in her personal life. “I learned to put myself in other people’s shoes and respect each other. I was very angry, as a way to defend myself, and it was in these meetings and meetings [with other women from the Fair Trade and Solidarity Network] that I grew and improved,” she says. “That’s why I say I’m the one who gains the most.”

As common — and often justified — as anger is, it is one of those emotions that we struggle to deal with in the church, at times. We might find it difficult to place raw, tumultuous emotions within the life of the people of God. Perhaps it is one of the reasons that this season we will sing songs about the “holy infant so tender and mild” (“Silent Night”) or “that mother mild” (“Once in Royal David’s City”) while we still await the writing of an ode to Jesus’ overturning of tables in the temple. Volatile emotions, particularly in the seasons of Advent and Christmas, feel so out of place. We aren’t quite sure what to do with them.

That has made 2020 particularly hard to navigate. This year, we have lived with the grief of the hundreds of thousands of lives lost to the COVID-19 pandemic. We have mourned isolation from one another and the loss of that most basic human need of touch, even as we understood the risk that accompanied handshakes and hugs. We grieved together as loved ones and neighbors died alone in hospitals or nursing homes. And when we couldn’t gather together for funerals, we lost a key ritual for processing our grief as a community.

We grieved the loss of livelihoods and the closure of family businesses that had been part of our communities for generations. We feared the long-term consequences for our communities as jobs were lost and more and more people around the world went hungry.

And we were angered together by the deadly injustice of racism and the persistent inequalities that exacerbated the pandemic in many communities. Demonstrations filled streets in cities large and small as a collective voice of rage was raised against a racist justice system that continues to disproportionately permit and even sanction extrajudicial killings of people of color.

Certainly, our hope rests in that just peace (shalom) that “surpasses all human understanding,” which will “wipe away every tear from our eyes” and bring such equity and harmony that the lion will lie down with the lamb and the child will play with the viper and not be harmed. But there are times when it is difficult to see this promise through the lens of overwhelming grief and righteous anger. And there are times when grief and anger are what we need to move us toward justice, which is the form of the love of neighbor takes in society. For many of us, 2020 was one of those times.

The promise of Advent is not merely the promise of a future when all shall be made well, when all grief and anger shall cease and when the weight of heavy emotions shall be lifted from our shoulders. The promise of Advent — or, perhaps, the comfort of Advent — is that, amid our grief and anger, God is present, walking with us, consoling us, inspiring us and prodding us to walk together toward the future
where justice and peace will kiss (Psalm 85:10).

The future day promised by Isaiah in this week’s reading is a promise not to those who are comfortable but to those who are afflicted. In “the year of the Lord’s favor,” God will “provide for those who mourn in Zion — to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning” (Isaiah 61:2-3). It is a promise that those whose burdens have left them with a “faint spirit” will be given the strength of “oaks” and that God will “cause righteousness and praise to spring up” like the first plants of spring (61:11). It is a promise that God, who “loves justice,” (61:8) will establish the same — and an invitation for us to be part of this.

Perhaps that is the reassurance of the Scripture readings for this week. The grief and anger that have marked so much of this year — and that mark so much of every year for many of us living in vulnerability to disease, injustice, hunger and violence — is where God meets us. We need not gather the strength to move on nor ignore the depth of our pain in order to find God. God finds us in these depths.

Cacilda, working tirelessly with neighbors in Brazil, was able to let go of her anger and felt herself changed by the experience. But God did not wait for that moment to work transformation and renewal through her. Indeed, it may be through this very tumult that God moves us toward greater actions of justice. Christ did not wait for a comfortable bed but was born in the sharp, chafing, ill-fitting manger, amid the noise of the animals and the loneliness of the stable. We need not wait to be comfortable, for our grief to resolve or our anger to subside, in order to draw close to God.

God has been there all along.

Ask

What caused you to mourn or angered you this year?
How does God meet you amid your grief and anger?
How can the transformation of our grief or anger help spur us to
deeper acts in service of one another or in service of God?
What would a just peace (shalom) look like in your community?
In the United States?

Pray

Comforting and empowering God, you meet us amid our pain and ease the load of our burdens. Be near us in our grief and anger, comfort us as we mourn and move our will toward acts of justice for one another. Grant the world just peace this season, that we may find rest and hope in you. In your holy name, we pray. Amen.

Ellen Rothweiler, Des Moines, IA

Warm-up Question

Who is the favorite in your family?

Favorite

The holidays expose underlying family dynamics in many families. Time together, gift giving, and special meals can all offer an opportunity for favoritism among siblings and cousins, or at least the illusion of such. Also, you bear a burden if you are the favorite. More is expected of you. You are the person in the family who is expected to fix things or take care of everyone.

On the other hand, remember that song from the Sound of Music “My Favorite Things”? Singing about their favorite things made the kids and Maria feel better when they were afraid or worried. Favorite can be a good thing when we are talking about colors, or foods, or songs. Somehow, when we talk about people it sets up rank in groups.

Like so many things, the idea of “favorite” has both positive and negative consequences.

Discussion Questions

How do you know when something is your favorite?
Are you someone’s favorite? How does that feel?
Are you not the favorite? How does that feel?
Why do you think the idea of favorites in groups of people is divisive?

Fourth Sunday of Advent

2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16

Romans 16:25-27

Luke 1:26-38

(Text links are to Oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year B at Lectionary Readings.)

For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.

Gospel Reflection

We hear the story of the Angel Gabriel visiting Mary every year during the season of Advent. It is an important part of the story of Jesus coming to Earth to be Emanuel, “God With Us.” The angel greets Mary by saying, “Greetings favored one!” and “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God…” Then the angel tells her she is going to have a baby boy, God’s son. Mary says “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”

This is a strange thing to happen to God’s favored. Mary’s special treatment includes risking her marriage to Joseph, pregnancy, childbirth, fear, and danger. To this she says, “Here I am!” and agrees to be a part of giving this gift of Christ to the world. God incarnate. The Word made flesh. God chose Mary to bear this gift, and this burden. But Mary does not dwell on the burden of being favored, at least not in the account that Luke offers us. It is human to see the good and the bad in a thing, but Mary accepts this call and says, “let it be with me according to your word.”

We can all learn something from the way Mary models being favored; Acceptance. Grace. Strength. She does not worry about her way; she goes God’s way and it takes her on quite the adventure to Bethlehem, Egypt and the cross. The angel does not say that since she is favored God has this easy thing for her to do, and she is going to enjoy every minute of it. Sometimes the most important things are the hardest. In these, and all things, God is with us…Emmanuel.

Discussion Questions

Have you ever been asked to do something hard and/or important? How did that feel?
Have you ever said “no” to something because it was too hard or too much? Do you regret it or do you think you made the right choice?
How do you make those kinds of decisions?

Activity Suggestions

Listen to the song “My Favorite Things”. There are many versions of this song out around Christmas. the lyrics to include your group’s favorite things.

Closing Prayer

God of Love, in our baptism you claimed us and proclaimed us precious. Give us joy in knowing you favor us and courage in living out our calling as your servants. Guide us, that we may go where you send us and be signs to the world that you are indeed Emmanuel, God with us.

by Giovana Oaxaca, Program Director for Migration Policy

The allegations of medical neglect and invasive gynecological procedures in a privately-run detention center in Irwin County, Ocilla, Ga.—including coerced sterilization—quickly drew disbelief and condemnation worldwide this fall. Far from unique, these shocking allegations echo the historic and current reality of cruel and inhumane treatment towards migrant women. At every stage and step of their lives, migrants, immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers are at special risk of having their fundamental human rights violated.

GBV as a migration driver

What drives people to migrate will vary from person to person, but one of the most cited reasons is to escape from domestic abuse and violence. For countless women, girls, and LGTBQIA+ persons in the Northern Triangle of Central America–El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras—sexual- and gender-based violence (GBV) is inescapable reality. Every day, over 100 cases of violence against women are filed in Guatemala. In 2018, a woman was killed in Honduras every 18 hours. El Salvador, which has the highest rate of femicide in Latin America, reported 84 femicides in an 8-month span of time in 2020 at the height of pandemic quarantine measures. Globally, gender-based violence is widely recognized as a key human rights issue, as highlighted in the international 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence campaign.

These figures likely do not capture the full scope of the violence experienced by women. Social stigma, fear of retribution and lack of confidence in authorities often contribute to underreporting.

Shifts in U.S. Policy Toward Asylum Seekers

The United States has a policy of granting limited humanitarian protections to persons fleeing gender-based persecution and violence. Unfortunately, overtime, these protections have become harder to access. Under President Trump, the U.S. government has undermined protections for people fleeing domestic abuse and gang violence and turned away asylum seekers, trapping families, men, women and children in precarious conditions without any meaningful access to protection. People at risk of GBV thus contend with persecution at home, in transit, and even from U.S. authorities.

ELCA responds to human need

While working with migrating, returned and deported women, civil society organizations and faith-partners have expressed the need for services geared at empowering women socially, politically and economically. The ELCA’s AMMPARO strategy (Accompanying Migrant Minors with Protection, Advocacy, Representation and Opportunities) has placed a special emphasis on working with advocates in Central America who give witness to these perilous conditions and supported their advocacy efforts.

“Migrants, immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers often suffer more when they are women, girls, or gender non-conforming people” notes the ELCA social statement Faith, Sexism, and Justice: A Call to Action.” “Women, girls, and people who identify as non-binary must not be deprived of their human or civil rights.” When the disturbing account of human rights violations against immigrant women in custody of the privately run Irwin County Detention Center surfaced, ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton stated, “As the ELCA we strongly condemn gender-based violence and violations of human rights wherever they occur.”

Threats in U.S. detention

Abuse of women is widespread in immigration detention centers and constitutes a serious threat to the civil and personal liberties of migrants. The detained population has multiplied over the last 30 years under a U.S. government policy to apprehend and detain increasing numbers of immigrants. Alternatives such as community-based alternatives to detention, although humane, less costly and more effective, have not been pursued, overburdening an already strained system at the expense of the people detained.

The United Nation High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) guidance says that all immigration practices should implement special measures to protect women from sexual and gender-based violence and exploitation in detention. According to the UNHCR, other groups that are vulnerable to abuse, like children and members of the LGBTQIA+ community, should also be afforded special measures to guarantee their safety. The UNHCR mainly advocates that detention should be used as a measure of last resort and asylum seekers should be given every opportunity to seek protection. The U.S. government must do more to meet even this basic standard of care.

In fact, the U.S. federal government has become one of the most egregious perpetrators and accessories of GBV. Between 2010 and 2017, there was a staggering 1,224 complaints of sexual assault abuse in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention yet only 43 investigations. Based upon known patterns, these numbers likely reflect underreporting. We know people don’t come forward out of fear of retaliation and are not consistently supported by confidence in prosecution of perpetrators. Like most cases of GBV, these acts are committed in nearly total impunity.

What can we do?

Increased scrutiny at Irwin creates new incentives for advocacy

Supporting policies that aim to curb profiting from people’s suffering are one way to stamp out immigration practices in the U.S. that deprive women of their liberty and rights.
Restoring the asylum system so that victims have access to humanitarian protections goes without saying—though the underlying definition of gender-based asylum could stand to be improved.
Supporting survivors of violence at the onset through advocacy in their home countries, so that they do not feel obligated to flee, must also be an objective of any strategy to prevent and mitigate acts of GBV. The escalation of intimate partner violence, evidenced by the spike in femicides in El Salvador, signals the need to expand local programs for women in need of protection in their homes.
The Keeping Women and Girls Safe from the Start Act of 2020 (S. 4003) includes some important measures to expand the U.S. government’s ability to prevent gender-based violence and provide early interventions at the onset of humanitarian emergencies.

These are just a few examples of systemic and institutional changes that can be made, and they are very likely to take some time to come to be implemented. However, these lay the groundwork for a just and compassionate solution to the unacceptable reality of sexual- and gender-based violence.

By Kathryn Mary Lohre

The third week of Advent began for me not with the lighting of the pink candle in the Advent wreath, or the nativity children’s program at church, but in my favorite armchair at home watching history unfold. On the television, trucks full of vaccines prepared for their journey to those most in need across the country. Distribution of this lifesaving, life-changing, scientific discovery is in motion. I felt a lump in my throat. While for most of us, nothing changes – not yet – we can now prepare. Our waiting has turned to anticipation.

As ecumenical and inter-religious partners, we have a role to play in preparing for the post-pandemic future. We can encourage people to love their neighbors by getting vaccinated – when it is our turn. We can advocate for equitable distribution in the US and globally. We can publicly acknowledge that there are, understandably, varying degrees of confidence in public health claims and scientific advances. We can confess that this is a direct consequence of our racist and white supremacist history and current practices against BIPOC communities, including shameful cases of medical malpractice, abuse, and neglect. On the basis of our understanding of our sacred texts and theologies, we can inspire a future were all people, and the planet, are included in how we define and actualize health and healing.

For those of us who are Christian, it is fitting that this third week in Advent is also a time to order our hearts and minds in joyful anticipation of the Christ-child. That feels risky right now. Amid illness, death, and social inequity, we have been oriented to despair. We have become accustomed to all that is not, rather than to proclaiming all that will be. The Gospel text for this third week in Advent (John 1:6-8, 19-28) is a reminder that we, like John the Baptist, are called to prepare the way for the One who is our Joy. We do so by testifying to Christ in advance of Christ’s arrival. We tell of what will be even in the absence of what is. In other words, we reorient ourselves to rejoicing by practicing joy.

It gives me great joy to see those freezer trucks on their way to those most in need. Even more so, I rejoice in anticipation that the One who inoculates us against despair is coming.

Kathryn Mary Lohre serves as Assistant to the Presiding Bishop and Executive for Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Relations & Theological Discernment for the ELCA

What I thought I knew

My childhood connection to nature was effortless. It was filled with state park camping trips, summer camps, Minnesota lakes, and my roomy backyard. It informs my adult life in countless ways– including my environmentalism, political beliefs, and faith. So when I peered out the window of our ELCA Young Adults in Global Mission (YAGM) van as it climbed for my first time to the Environmental Education Center (EEC) atop a blustery peak in Beit Jala, Palestine – a place I would spend much of the next year – I imagined myself having quite the grip on environmentalism and anything it might entail.

The view from the EEC’s outlook

I had not expected to learn many things. I was quickly proved wrong.

I learned more at the Environmental Education Center (EEC), a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, than I could ever have imagined.

What I learned

I learned that access to water is not guaranteed to any Palestinian living in the West Bank, as it is controlled by Israel, who often diverts it to Israeli settlements.

I learned that the occupation wall tears through land people and wildlife have called home for tens of thousands of years, disrupting migration patterns, habitats, and agriculture.

Israel controls the allocation of funds available for Palestine’s waste management. While Israel’s landfills take up several areas previously used by Palestine, it has severely restricted landfill capacity for Palestinian waste, resulting in a significant amount of litter.

Some land-grabbing in Israel entails the rapid planting of non-native, fast-growing trees, creating a makeshift forest to hide remains of pillaged Palestinian towns. It is not uncommon that these “protected forests” are planted with funding from American Christians concerned about the holy land’s environmental health. It is also not uncommon that after 10-15 years, these trees are again uprooted to make room for a new Israeli settlement.

My shiny American Environmental Studies major suddenly made the world of plastic straw bans and buckthorn pulls seem utterly insignificant, if not naïve.

What it means

Christians, Muslims, and Jews around the world lay a sentimental claim to the Holy Land, the land in which Jesus sat beneath olive trees, where the prophet Muhammed ascended to heaven, and where the Israelites were led to freedom. “The land of milk and honey” rang through my head sometimes as I stared out the EEC’s window amidst editing grant proposals and publications. Everyone clamors for this land, but they use the word “land” in a hollow way. People seemingly refer to the bare minimum of the word — the lifeless chunk of earth that sits in that particular spot on the planet, worthy only because of who has walked and what was written there, not the life present and reliant upon it today.

Art submitted by a student on the olive tree as a piece of Palestinian identity

What God desires

Matthew 6:25-26 says, 25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them…”.

I could write novels about how my time at the EEC taught me more about environmental justice than I ever learned from any college course, but I will instead share a memory with you.

For context–the EEC holds the first bird-ringing (often called bird banding in the U.S.) station in the Middle East. Mostly volunteer-run, much important research has come from the ringing work done here. This includes documenting various species of native Palestinian birds, piecing together native Palestinian ecosystems, and observing the occupation’s effects on migration patterns and those same ecosystems.

Bird in flight

As the EEC holds youth at the center of their ministry, bird ecology is an important way they connect students with the Palestinian biodiversity. According to their mission, this connection is inseparable from the ever-coveted land itself. Student groups who tour the EEC often get the memorable chance to release a freshly “ringed” bird under the loving supervision of EEC researcher Michael Farhoud and his devoted college volunteer, Bashar Jarseyeh.

Students are always timid when the bird is first placed in their hand, palm stretched flat to provide a stable takeoff platform. Sometimes the bird will stand there an extra second or two, cautiously taking in the circle of awestruck seventh-graders. This moment is beautiful — student taking in bird, bird taking in student. Then, a flutter of wings and the bird is off, quickly becoming smaller and smaller as it soars above the Al Makhrour Valley.

Photo from the EEC Facebook page–student releases bird after ringing

Photo by Mohammad Daraghmeh, submitted to the EEC 2020 Spring “Palestinian Biodiversity” photography competition

As they release the birds, students marvel that checkpoints, walls, and borders will not be on the mind of this avian Palestinian. Yet the students know these barriers can never leave the mind of the human Palestinians their bird friend flies over.

Still, maybe this bird sows a small seed of hope that one day things will change. One day, maybe the students, maybe all Palestinians will be as free to move as the “birds of the air” Jesus describes in the text from Matthew.

Additional Resources

Learn more about the Environmental Education Center supported by the Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land here:

https://www.eecp.org/

Read more about the environmental impact of the Occupation of Palestine here:

https://time.com/5714146/olive-harvest-west-bank/

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2017/11/the-occupation-of-water/

Reflection Questions

Maddi challenges us to consider those who rely on the earth in the present-day in the Holy Land, not just the religious figures who have walked there. How does thinking about the environmental impact of the occupation of Palestine today challenge the way you have thought about the Holy Land in the past?
Maddi and the Palestinian students she worked with learned about faithfulness and freedom and joy from the birds at the Environmental Education Center. What have you learned from the creation around you? How has your relationship to the earth shaped your relationship with God?
The Environmental Education Center in Palestine taught Maddi that care for the land and all creation is a central part of our call as people of faith. How have you considered your relationship to creation this Advent? In this period of waiting, how might you better care for creation?
Matthew 6:25-26 says, 25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear… 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them”. How have you experienced God providing for you or community? Who in your community needs to experience God’s freedom? How is God calling you to respond?

My name is Maddi Froiland and I was a 2019-2020 Young Adults in Global Mission (YAGM) volunteer in Jerusalem and the West Bank. I grew up in Milwaukee, WI, and graduated with a major in Environmental Studies and a concentration in Women and Gender Studies from St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN. I am currently serving as an AmeriCorps member in Palm Beach County, FL, where I am a reading tutor and teach a nightly ESL class for adults.

by Giovana Oaxaca, Program Director for Migration Policy