Third Sunday of Advent

Advent is the season of holy anticipation. Christ arrives in three ways: He came in humility at Bethlehem, He comes now in Word and Sacrament, and He will come again in glory. Each week we live in eager expectation, moved to sing with the shepherds and the saints: Behold your King’s arrival, rich with grace on grace! Today, THE KING WHO COMES IN WORD AND SACRAMENT: The King is not absent … He arrives here and now in preaching, water, bread, and wine. In these “commonplace” things God delivers extraordinary miracles of forgiveness and new life.