The third week of Advent traditionally carries the note of joy—the rose candle lit against deepening winter. Yet the joy that Advent offers is not cheap or shallow; it is the kind that emerges only after God has done a cleansing work within us. This week, the word that rises is “Cleansed.”
In Scripture, cleansing is never merely about outward purity—it is always about restoring relationship. Through the prophet Malachi, God speaks of a coming Messiah who will be like a refiner’s fire and a fuller’s soap—not to destroy, but to purify; not to shame, but to restore. Advent asks us to welcome that refining presence.
As we draw nearer to Christmas, the light gets brighter, and light has a way of revealing what we’ve tucked into shadows. Advent is not only about preparing a manger in our hearts, but about allowing God to clear away everything that does not belong there.
Many of us enter this season carrying heaviness:
• burdens we’ve accumulated,
• old wounds that still sting,
• resentments that cling to our spirits,
• habits or sins that dull our capacity for joy.
But Advent whispers this truth: You are not meant to carry what Christ came to cleanse.
John the Baptist’s cry—“Prepare the way of the Lord!”—is not an order to “get your act together,” but an invitation to open your life to the healing mercy of God. When we allow God to wash away what burdens us—fear, guilt, bitterness, self-reliance—joy naturally rises.
Cleansing is not about perfection. It is about making room.
This week we are invited to let God cleanse:
– our motives,
– our desires,
– our relationships,
– our expectations,
– our false sources of hope.
Wherever God cleanses, God also prepares.
Wherever God refines, God also restores.
Wherever God washes, God also renews.
To be cleansed is to be made ready for hope—not the fragile hope the world offers, but the strong, steady hope born in a manger.
A Prayer for the Third Week of Advent
Refining God, as we light the rose candle of joy, cleanse our hearts of whatever dims your light. Wash away the weariness, the fear, the pride, the anger, the sin—
all that keeps us from receiving your Son with clear eyes and open hearts.
Make us new again, that our joy may be real and our hope unshakable.
Prepare in us a place fit for Christ to dwell.
Amen.
Inner Altar 