Advent is upon us and we wait.  God has made promises to Israel and she keeps watch for them to come to pass.  She left Babylon around 520 BC after being in captivity for more than seventy years.  As she left, she carried with her the hope of a Messiah who could come to restore her former glory.  Kings David and Solomon reigned when Israel was strong.  Enemies were either defeated or kept safely at bay.  After the temple and the division of the nation after Solomon's death, Israel's decline was steady and profound.  Being driven off to Babylon was traumatic.  Her hope was no longer found in the promised land or the priesthood or even in the temple.  It came to be found in her hope God would return and restore all her glory.  The season of Advent provides a time for the Church to take notice of Israel's waiting and watching.  We become expectant partners with her.  We look for the Messiah and the Gospel he preaches.  And we keep this in mind.  The Gospel is not only a story about angels and shepherds and gifts brought by Magi.   It's yet one more promise from God to assure Israel and the Church and all of creation that God's divine fidelity is steadfast and everlasting.  In this world and in this generation I can think of no grander promise.  May God bless us all as we wait and watch.