In today’s first reading, the Lord offers a strong critique of the religious leaders of His time. He often challenges them for acting more like worldly authorities than true shepherds of God’s people. Yet these words are not meant only for those in positions of spiritual leadership. They are meant for all of us.
We fall into the same pattern whenever we place ourselves above others—sometimes not in obvious ways, but subtly, through dismissiveness, harsh judgments, or allowing our opinions and politics to shape us more than the Gospel. When this happens, we forget an essential truth: we, too, stand in need of ongoing conversion, perhaps more than we realize.
Advent invites us to pause and examine our relationship with Christ and with one another. This matters because Jesus gives us a clear commandment: to love the Lord with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. That love cannot grow where judgment, indifference, or suspicion take root. Advent calls us back—to humility, mercy, and genuine conversion of heart.
Living in Love with God 
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