PREPARE THE WAY: A CALLING FOR CONVERSION.

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December 10, 2023.
Second Sunday of Advent – B.

Readings: Is 40:1-5, 9-11; Ps 85:9-10-11-12, 13-14; 2 Pt3:8-14; Mk 1:1-8. 

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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