During Advent, when we were hoping for a nice time of nostalgic Christmas carols and storytelling, the Gospel gives us instead a bunch of characters who sound like they could be right out of Occupy Wall Street.  John the Baptist certainly looked the part – scruffy and boldly challenging, he certainly had the religious people of the day clucking their tongues at his eccentricity and unrealistic demands. Later in the season we will receive the challenge to occupy hope from an even more surprising source.  For today: listen to the good news from the gospel of Mark.

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