November 30, 2022 at 7:17 p.m.
‘Prepare a way for the Lord’
‘Prepare a way for the Lord’
It was certainly the mission of St. John the Baptist to do just that: to prepare a way for the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ. However, even though Jesus has come, St. John’s message still has great value and we too also have a mission to prepare a way for the Lord. A third-century writer called Origen put it this way: “I think the mystery of John is still being carried out in the world. If we are to believe in Jesus Christ, the spirit and power of John must first come into our hearts and prepare for the Lord a perfect people, making the rough ways of our heart smooth and making the crooked straight.” So, what does all this mean and how are we to do it?
The answer lies in those two words “prepare” and “way.” Let us take a closer look at that first word “prepare.” If we think about it, we spend quite a bit of our life preparing for all sorts of things, whether it is for a mid-term exam or quiz, or the next sporting event, or for a visitor, or family event, to give just a few examples. How do we do this? It may involve study or practice: sharpening up our knowledge, skills and awareness. It could involve preparing the house for visitors by cleaning up, or getting a guest room ready, or cooking ahead of time.
These images easily can be translated into how we prepare in a spiritual sense, so as to be able to recognize Jesus when he comes and then to welcome the Lord and to let him enter into our hearts. As with our everyday preparations (whatever these may be), all this involves effort and focus. We might need to sharpen up our faith knowledge and spiritual skills, helped by the sacraments, God’s Word and our prayer time. It might also require that we clean up our house (that is our heart and soul) in some way, perhaps helped by celebrating the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We hear this in St. John the Baptist’s message of repentance. It is good to recall that repentance is a double-edged action: a removing and turning away from all that is wrong or bad, and then a turning toward the Lord and allowing his love and grace to fill us. Advent then really is a special time, when we can be energized and prepare for the coming of the Lord.
So far, so good, but we also need to take a closer look at that second word, “way,” for the phrase “prepare a way for the Lord” also has an image of a way or a journey. It reminds us that the Lord travels or journeys to us. But what if that way or road to us is blocked somehow? What if there is something blocking God’s path to us? St. John the Baptist’s harsh words in the Gospel to the Pharisees and Sadducees indicate that they had such blockages and so they were failing to produce good fruit.
Advent, like Lent, is a season of preparation and part of this preparation is conversion and penance. This is one reason why we use the liturgical color of violet/purple both for Lent and for Advent. It is the color of penance and of renewed conversion. As we noted above, as part of preparations, we need to take a serious look at what might be “blocking” our relationship with God and, with God’s help, to make sure that that blockage or those obstacles are removed. It could be a familiar fault or failing, or a less than active or vibrant prayer life, or a long held resentment or hurt. Any of these, and so many more, can act like roadblocks; a barrier for us to be open and welcoming to the Lord as He comes to us. Yet again, the Sacrament of Reconciliation is a great way to unblock things.
Unlike St. John the Baptist, we do not need to live in the desert, or to dress in camel skin clothes, or to live on a diet of honey and locusts (could this be the latest diet fad?), as we hear in the Gospel! However, we do need to “prepare a way for the Lord,” both for ourselves and also to help others to do the same. May the Lord bless us and help us as we and our families and friends prepare a way for God, or, as that well-known hymn puts it:
Hark, a herald voice is calling,
“Christ is nigh,” it seems to say;
“Cast away the dreams of darkness,
O you children of the day.”
250 X 250 AD
250 X 250 AD
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250 X 250 AD
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