Tuesday of the Second Week of Advent

“Let Yourself Be Found”

Isaiah begins with a simple word from God: “Comfort.” Not correction. Not accusation. Comfort. Advent always begins there—God leaning toward His people, not because we’ve earned it, but because He cannot stop loving us.

And then Isaiah gives us that image: “Prepare the way of the Lord… make straight His paths.” We often hear that as work we need to do. Fix ourselves. Try harder. Smooth the rough edges. But Isaiah actually tells us something deeper: it’s God who is coming to us, God who levels the mountains, God who lifts up the valleys. Advent isn’t about us climbing to Him—it’s about Him crossing every distance to reach us.

That’s why the Gospel fits so perfectly today. Jesus asks us to imagine a shepherd who leaves ninety-nine sheep just to find the one who wandered. The world might call that foolish. But Jesus calls it the Father’s will.
“It is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.”

St. Ambrose once said, “The shepherd seeks not the flock but the sheep; for the shepherd’s glory is the saving of one.” In Advent, the Lord is not looking at the ninety-nine places where we’re doing fine—He’s going straight for the place in us that’s lost, wounded, or afraid. That’s where He wants to speak His “comfort.”

So maybe today we can pray simply:
“Lord, come find me where I’ve wandered.”
Not with fear, but with trust—because the God who comes is gentle, like Isaiah’s shepherd who gathers lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart.

Advent is God’s reminder that He never stops coming after us. Every valley we face, every mountain we can’t climb—He crosses it. All He needs is for us to let ourselves be found.