As we prepare our hearts for the birth of the Christ child, we also anticipate Christ’s return and the fulfillment of God’s kingdom. How do we stand in the tension of what is and what is to come? We keep watch. This Advent season, we reflect on what it means to keep watch in this period of history while wrestling with questions about how to bear witness to the world we trust is coming, who and what it is that we are watching for, and how we might practice keeping watch.
Bishop James Walker reflects on grace that keeps us steady in the ups and downs and points us to God’s promise to be faithful. Rev. Eric Roemer reflects on the practice of keeping watch in the silence, waiting for the fulfillment of God’s promises. Rev. Fatima Yakuba-Madus reflects on the practice of watching for where God’s light is already appearing. Dr. Jeremy Everett reflects on Mary’s willingness to say “Here am I” and considers how we, too, can make ourselves available to God and to one another amid hunger and hardship.
This devotional is appropriate for both individuals and groups. It is structured with scripture that comes from the Revised Common Lectionary, a reflection, a prayer, and a prompt for deeper reflection and discussion. We invite readers to slow down and ground yourselves in your bodies. Let us take our time as we read.
Every person may engage with each devotional in different ways. In group settings, you might consider building in time for stillness in silence or with musical accompaniment, discussion of the question provided, and prayer with the text provided and/or prayer specifically for one another.
On behalf of Bread for the World staff, we wish you a meaningful and joy-filled Advent.
– Rev. Nancy Neal
Here are Bread for the World’s 2026 weekly Advent themes:
Week 1: The Grace that Restores
Scripture: Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19 and Matthew 13:24-37
Reflection: Years ago, I purchased an old oak table with four ornate chairs, each adorned with a colorful sunflower. I refinished the set and removed every hint of those dreaded sunflowers. Years later, I learned my table was the sole survivor of six sets made in Kansas in 1906, just a few years after Kansas was officially named the Sunflower State. In removing the sunflowers, refinishing erased part of the table’s original identity and purpose, that of honoring the sunflower state. Refinishing satisfied the moment, but my table, like Israel, was crying out for restoration! Advent reminds us that while refinishing satisfies the moment, restoration recovers purpose.
– Bishop James Walker
Week 2: Keeping Watch in the Silent Night
Scripture: 2 Peter 3:8-15a, Mark 1:1-8
Reflection: It was a silent night. There had been 400 years of silent nights since God last spoke to them through Malachi. It was a dark night; socially, politically, and spiritually dark. The people were waiting, weary, afraid, and grieving.
It was a silent night again, but it was also a holy night. Both of those things are true about the dark night of the soul. We have to hold all of this in both hands.
It is silent again for many. It is dark again for many. It is still holy, though, for those who are keeping watch.
– Rev. Eric Roemer
Week 3: Keeping Watch: Reflecting the Light
Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24, John 1:6-8, 19-28
Reflection: Advent begins in the darkness. We light candles because we know the darkness is real. The world we inhabit is not always the world we know God desires. We see hunger, poverty, homelessness, violence, displacement, and injustice. We see families struggling to put food on the table and communities bearing burdens they did not create. We see people whose voices are ignored and whose dignity is too often treated as conditional. Advent does not ask us to pretend these realities do not exist. Advent asks us to keep watch in the midst of them.
– Rev. Fatima Yakubu-Madus
Week 4: Here Am I, Keeping Watch
Scripture: Luke 1:35–38
Reflection: This fall, I traveled to South Texas to gather with people from across the Rio Grande Valley. Local government leaders, nonprofits, universities, farmers, ranchers, former migrant workers, and advocates for people experiencing hunger all came together to hear firsthand about the realities facing communities in the Valley.
What struck me most was not simply the hardship, though there was plenty of it. It was the willingness of people to come together, tell the truth about what they were seeing, and remain committed to one another in the face of problems that can seem overwhelming.
– Dr. Jeremy Everett
Download Bread for the World’s free Advent devotional for in-depth scriptures, reflections, and prayers.
Bread for the World
Advent Devotional
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