My Lord and my God, I firmly believe that you are here, that you see me, that you hear me.

I adore you with profound reverence. I ask your pardon for my sins and the grace to make this time of prayer fruitful.

My immaculate mother, St. Joseph, my father and Lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

In this second Sunday of Advent, we receive an invitation to go to the desert, which is always mysterious.

A desert could be wonderful, in the sense, shocking,

quiet, wonderful because of its colors. You can see stars at night at the desert. But it is always a lonely place with no refuge, no place to hide.

So it's challenging. So let's follow the advice of John the Baptist. And in the gospel today,

preparing for Christmas, says, behold, I'm sending my messenger ahead of you.

He will prepare your way.

A voice of one crying out in the desert prepared the way of the Lord.

Make straight his paths.

And Job de Baptists appeared in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

And people from all Judea and only the inhabitants of Jerusalem were going to him to be baptized.

They were attracted.

They were discovering something beautiful in the desert, the truth of themselves.

And this is something that maybe for my preparation for Christmas is good for me.

To get into a place, my Lord, where I can meditate, I can meet you face to face without distractions.

I remember some years ago during the lockdown in the U.S., we had the opportunity with people

from the school where I work to make a road trip in the U.S. to go to visit some national

parks like Yellowstone, Grand

Titan, Arches, Utah, Grand Canyon in Arizona. It was a spectacular. Going through

the desert inside the van with air conditioner and music is not the same as going, in this case, for penance.

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