December 18, 2025
“St. Joseph” By George Capps and Polly Capps Paule
In His Time
By Janine Christiano
“Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.”
In His time (she said with a sigh). Advent is about sitting with our waiting, accepting and receiving our waiting as a gift, an opportunity to grow in virtue while we reflect on the coming of our Savior and the redemption, joy, and peace that we can just barely comprehend on this side of the veil. Our waiting, our joyful hope, should be the spiritual equivalent of savoring the daily, teeny Advent calendar treat in confident anticipation of the horde of gifts and massive feast awaiting. But I am a spiritual child and on some days I am all but throwing my piece of theological chocolate across the room and whining because I can’t have my bigger present now. Where is this peace? Where is justice?
It can’t escape me that on the day I am writing this, a few miles away from me, my state executed its third inmate of the year. Our state’s Bishops prayerfully and beautifully spoke against it and asked our governor for mercy and clemency, as they have during the previous two occurrences, but the execution went on as planned. God’s justice was not there—not in the crimes that were committed decades ago and not in the resolution that was implemented today. And yet we know, Emmanuel, God with us, is here. Those of us blessed with the gift of faith know this and do as St. Joseph did in today’s gospel, we wake from our sleep, we let go of our doubt and disappointment, and we do as God commands us. So we pray, we hope, we work toward justice, because it brings peace. Our Lady of Expectation, pray for us. St. Joseph, pray for us. Jesus, have mercy on us.
George Capps and Polly Capps Paule are a brother-sister team of fine artists dedicated to creating original sacred artwork in the classical tradition for churches, educational institutions, and private chapels. You can learn more about them and shop for prints of their work here.
Janine Christiano is a nonprofit administrator focused on justice, equity, and solidarity based in Nashville. Connect with her on LinkedIn.