PREPARE THE WAY: A CALLING FOR CONVERSION.
December 10, 2023.
Second Sunday of Advent – B.
A Swahili proverb says: “To get lost is to learn the way.”
And a Korean proverb adds: “To be prepared is to have no anxiety.”
The coming of the Lord is a new beginning that calls for
preparation. We can not make the right Advent journey without preparation. Our
preparation should, however, not be only physical and external, but also even
more, spiritual and internal.
I love the Philippines for its special way of living
Christmas. From September 1, many places are in Christmas color with the counting
down of the remaining days. While we are getting closer to this event that has
become more commercial than spiritual, every family is looking at how to
prepare for it.
The liturgy, this second Sunday of Advent, comes to remind
us of the right way to get prepared for Christmas. We are urged to make
spiritual preparations; to get our hearts ready for the Lord. It is a calling
for conversion and to become instruments of a new world through a new
lifestyle.
The prophecy of Isaiah and the Gospel of Mark echo it:
“Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.” To the people of Israel
troubled and losing hope, the Lord announces a consolation. The prophet is sent
to give comfort to God's people. He is mandated to speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and proclaim to her that her service is at an end, her guilt is expiated. For
such a message of hope that will bring about peace, they are exhorted to
prepare the way, make straight in the wasteland a highway. The prophet invites
the people of Israel exiled in Babylonia, to prepare themselves to welcome
God’s consolation. He is about to free them from slavery and bring them back to
their land. God will save them. Their part, however, is to welcome that divine
consolation in a heart ready to obey, to give away their rebellious and
stubborn heart that led them to that situation. They are now to cross the
desert and start a new life of obedience, love, and faithfulness to God.
John the Baptist, in the Gospel, fulfills the prophetic
vision of Isaiah. He came to prepare a
people for the Lord and make the way ready for him. About John and the Advent
of the Lord, the Catechism says: “St. John the Baptist is the Lord's immediate
precursor or forerunner, sent to prepare his way. "Prophet of the Most
High", John surpasses all the prophets, of whom he is the last. He
inaugurates the Gospel, already from his mother's womb welcomes the coming of
Christ, and rejoices in being "the friend of the bridegroom", whom he
points out as "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world".
Going before Jesus "in the spirit and power of Elijah", John bears
witness to Christ in his preaching, by his Baptism of conversion, and through
his martyrdom.” CCC. 523
So, the message of John, the reecho of Isaiah’s prophecy is
clear: prepare the way! But which way is it about? And how to get it prepared?
John invites for a more spiritual preparation we are exhorted to prepare our
hearts, to make them straight. The encounter of this new Advent is spiritual.
The Lord is coming to be born in our hearts. Because of the cares of
worldliness and materials, many hearts have turned unleveled, rugged, and
rough. We have fallen into the traps of materialism, leading us to selfishness
and lack of concern and care for our neighbor and the environment.
This Advent sounds like a warning and an exhortation. If we
dream of peace, the greatest gift of the one who is to come, if we want to be
ready for him, we should first ask the grace of faith but also open ourselves
to become instruments of his peace, of his love, and of his consolation. We
should kill from within our hearts all the seeds of selfishness and egoism.
Christmas should not be a selfish celebration. We should be channels of God's
consolation and comfort to his people, especially the most sorrowful, afflicted,
poor, forgotten, marginalized... Our Advent journey should be a holistic
journey of conversion, a human, spiritual, and even ecological conversion. A
time to change our relationship with each other, with God who is to come, and
with nature, our surroundings.
The Lord comes to transform our world. His coming is not a matter of day and date, but a whole life journey with him. As Paul can emphasize in the second reading, “with the Lord one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day.” And the Apostle adds, “The Lord does not delay his promise, as some regard “delay,” but he is patient” with us. Because he wants us all saved, God shows patience, hoping that we will convert and embrace the right path. Could we seize this Advent season as an opportunity to amend our lives and change our ways? The Lord is coming soon… So, let us make ready his way in our hearts and lives. May the candle of Peace lead our way and make us instruments of God’s peace.
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