An early Christmas card brings the hopeful greeting "Peace!" This second Sunday of Advent, December 7, 2025, calls us to recognize the Lord’s peace, embrace it for ourselves, and build a realm of peace in the world. It all begins with that key point—discovering the light of peace in Jesus. As Handel's "Messiah" oratorio reminds us, we look forward to the era of the Prince of Peace, a title borrowed from Isaiah (9:5). The birth of Jesus brings peace to each of us, and the gift of peace emboldens us build harmony in our world. 

This Sunday's first reading points us to Isaiah’s prophetic imagery of the Messiah’s peaceful kingdom. "Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them." (Isaiah 11:6) For the prophet, peace does not merely end conflict; peace gathers us together in recognition of our common life and our common yearning. In Isaiah's vision, the Messiah’s peace encompasses everyone, and it reaches beyond appearances and social convention. Isaiah writes, "He shall judge the poor with justice, and decide aright for the land's afflicted. . . . Justice shall be the band around his waist, and faithfulness a belt upon his hips." (Isaiah 11:4–5)

We find peace, not only in ourselves, but always in human solidarity. St. Paul’s letter to the Romans, this Sunday’s second reading, prays that "the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to think in harmony with one another in keeping with Christ Jesus." We are not alone, and we enjoy a sense of peace only when we acknowledge and strengthen our bonds with humanity both near and far. 

God calls us to a leap of vision and faith. In the day's Gospel (Matthew 3:1–12), John the Baptist appears in the Judaean desert. He refers to Isaiah when he proclaims, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand!" (3:2–3), but he begins with a bracing word: "Repent!" (3:2). When "repent" appears in New Testament English, it usually represents an attempt to translate the Greek metanoeite. English lacks a corresponding verb, but the Greek carries the sense of "be-seeing-beyond"—have a metanoia in your life. John says, "Open your eyes! See what lies beyond! Embrace God's reality!" In this experience, God's peace puts takes root in our lives. The world's division, poverty, warfare, and spite tempt us to give up on any notion of a the kingdom of peace, but the Gospel invites us to glimpse beyond and put our hope in the life and peace in God’s realm. 

Writing to an ecumenical conference in August 2025, Pope Leo affirmed: "We recall that peace is not merely a human achievement, but a sign of the Lord's presence with us. This is both a promise and a task, for the followers of Christ are summoned to become artisans of reconciliation, to confront division with courage, indifference with compassion, and to bring healing where there has been hurt."

Today and always, we can become the artisans who find peace and shape its presence in the world. Prayer and reflection, however brief, help orient us, and they help us see anew and beyond. We break through solitude and separation, and we open ourselves to the peace that underlies all existence.  Every small act of healing also heals us.