Prepare the Way...

"In the desert, prepare the way of the of the Lord! Make straight in the wasteland, a highway for our God!"



It's Sunday!


December 4, 2011 Second Sunday of Advent


The word "Advent" (from the Latin "ad - venire" = coming towards) gives us the characteristic of the next four Sundays: they are a preparation for an "Event " (from the Latin "ex-venire" or "coming out" or "emerging" or "happening") and we are well aware of what the "Happening" is: the coming of the Lord, a) at his birth in Bethlehem, b) into each of our lives at Baptism, c) for all humanity at the end of the world. These are the main "comings" but in a single day, each of us has countless "Advents " of our concerned God Who never leaves us to fend for ourselves, Who never leaves his flock untended. For the fervent Christian, every day is Christmas Day!


The First Reading from the great Prophet, Isaiah, was originally a word of comfort for King Hezekiah who was told that the King of Babylonia would come and take all his possessions and many of his people but that God would not abandon him. The message for us is substantially the same - we will lose our possessions at death if not before, but we will never lose the care of God for us. Never lose it? Yes, but on condition that we are always ready, are always waiting for His coming. The Voice crying in the desert will echo until the end of time. Originally the references to preparing the way referred to the need to make some sort of road in the wilderness to enable the king's chariot to pass. But the profound meaning is that we get to work in the wilderness of our souls to smooth out the many rough areas.


The beautiful Responsorial Psalm combines the two attitudes: "1 will hear what the Lord God has to say" ... I will be waiting . . . and "The Lord will make us prosper."


St. Peter in the Second Reading paints a rather frightening picture: very soon now the earth will be consumed with fire and the sky will vanish with a roar. Actually he got his dates wrong - we don't know when this will happen - but he is right on in his general message: for each of us the "end of the world" is the moment of our death and that has to be prepared by "living lives without spot or stains." This is the real "Advent" for which we can never be sufficiently be prepared.


In the Gospel we meet the imposing figure of John the Baptist.He appears out of nowhere (probably from a desert monastery in which a group of Jews called "Essenes" lived a life of strict observance) and calls the people to repentance but also to understand who he is. He is not the Messiah the whole nation is expecting, and who is a Figure of such greatness that (John says): " I am not fit to kneel down and undo the strap of his sandals," but rather a Voice calling to prepare for the Messiah's coming.


~ December 2011 Concord