On this second Sunday of Advent we focus on the coming of peace – and the Prince of Peace – into the world. The trouble is that when we look around the world we see suspicion between nations and their leaders, fighting within nations, violence in the home … and we are left scratching our heads, wondering where is God?Our Bible readings this week speak of God sending a messenger to prepare the way of the Lord (Malachi 3:1, Luke 3:4). According to Luke, this messenger is John the Baptist, who calls us to walk the path of peace by seeking justice.Our problem is that we don’t much like or listen to prophets like John –because they usually ask us to change (the biblical term is repentance) – and this takes effort, energy and humility. Further, if there is to be peace on earth,then it requires us to be messengers of God’s peace and agents of reconciliation between people. And this is a challenging path to walk