Stories about St. Nicholas spread from his home in Turkey up to Russia, where he is still a very popular saint. Through the centuries, people passed on stories of him across the most northern parts of Europe, then to Germany, France, and England, and finally to the United States. The children in every country gave St. Nicholas a name in their own language, and in the United States, and other places, he is Santa Claus. Nicholas lived in a seaside town named Myra, which is in the country we now call Turkey. Ever since he was a small child, Nicholas loved God more than anything. He studied hard, prayed often, and followed Jesus by helping the poor. As an adult he was consecrated a Bishop. Nicholas is revered throughout the ages because he loved God and God’s people. His service to the poor often included bringing toys for children.

In this reading, we are given very specific details about the moment that John the Baptist, hearing God’s word to him, began the work to which God had called him. We hear Luke tell us that “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John…in the wilderness.” It was time for John to respond. It was time for him to act. And he did.

Today’s First Reading and Gospel offer us an effective illustration of the inherent tension in the Advent season. In the early days of Advent, we hear many readings having to do with the Kingdom as it will be at the end of time when Christ comes again. However, we also now begin to hear in the Gospel the way in which Christ announces the coming of the Kingdom, not as a far-off event but in the here and now. Rather than being contradictory, these two perspectives of the coming of the Kingdom are intimately connected, and the Advent season is the perfect time to make it concrete in our daily lives.