Recently, I received a gift shipped from a company named A Spoonful of Comfort. In the box were two containers of freshly made hearty chicken vegetable soup, delicious rolls and chocolate chip cookies. Comfort food indeed! Within a few days, all was consumed, and the spoonful of comfort was only a memory.

How different is the spoonful of comfort delivered to my door from the comfort offered by a loving God who is always seeking us out and is always with us in the hills and valleys of life. God’s comfort is not a spoonful but a lifetime. Today’s first reading from the Prophet Isaiah begins with the well-known words, “Comfort, Give Comfort to my people says your God.” For the Israelites, their time of exile is ending. They are returning home and God wants them to know that there will be a straight highway for them to return to Jerusalem. With beautiful imagery, Isaiah speaks of rough ways being made smooth, hills leveled and valleys filled. Isaiah was speaking to a desperate people whose lives had been changed dramatically at the hands of the Babylonians. Returning home, they take comfort knowing that God is with them and cares for them as a shepherd cares for his flock.

Like the Israelites in exile, our lives, too, have changed dramatically as we adjusted to life during a pandemic. This period has been one of valleys, hills and rough roads. As people of faith, we know that our God was present to us at each of these moments as bleak as they may have been. Advent 2021 provides us an opportunity to look back and recognize that in the many challenges that confronted us there were just as many signs of God’s presence and comfort. We have seen those signs in the selfless women and men who provided care on many levels for those affected by COVID-19. We have seen those signs in the committed members of the STM community who continued a weekly soup kitchen in a greatly altered format. Many in our world are in exile from their homelands as the Israelites were. They have been welcomed at our borders with basic necessities supplied by Christian men and women in spite of opposition from civil authorities. STM has provided a warm welcome, substantial housing and support for adaptation to a new culture, once again, to a refugee family. Many individuals also reached out to those who were “exiled” in their own homes as they provided shopping, rides, meal delivery and frequent phone calls. “Comfort give comfort to my people says your God.”

As Advent 2021 provides a moment to reflect on God’s presence in the past year, it calls to the future as we anticipate the birth of our Messiah, Jesus Christ, the source of our comfort and consolation. In the newborn child of Bethlehem who would become the adult Christ, we come to know the care, compassion, comfort and gentleness of a loving God. Today’s gospel recounts Jesus speaking about the shepherd who leaves his ninety-nine sheep and goes after the one who strayed. For Jesus, no one is beyond God’s love and invitation to return. Going forward in joyful hope, Advent offers each of us an opportunity to reflect on the ways we experience the comfort of Jesus. Is it the Sacrament of Reconciliation or spending time in quiet prayer before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament? Is it the healing of a relationship, or embracing a twelve-step program? Is it being with a grieving family member or friend? To celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, we commit ourselves in this new liturgical year to be an extension of that comfort that he alone can give.

Maranatha, Come Lord Jesus.