2nd Sunday of Advent (Prepare the way of the Lord)
Every 2nd Sunday in Advent we hear the rants of John the Baptist, prophetically telling us to get ready for the age of the Messiah and the order that it will bring. “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!....Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths”.
John is sometimes referred to as a herald (not Harold!). A herald was a soldier, so designated to proceed in advance of the king, to announce to the people back home, good news, such as a military victory. And John was the herald of the Good News of Jesus Christ.
But let’s be honest, John the Baptist was probably someone that most of would try to avoid. He’s one who gets a little much into our personal space, and isn’t afraid to call us out on whatever he sees in us that he doesn’t agree with. He walked in truth and expected everyone else to do the same.
“Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths”. At our Baptism, God set us on a path: a straight path, straight to Him, and Jesus was the way, the road. As we think about this time of Advent, in which we prepare for our Lord’s coming, we understand that part of this preparation for us involves looking in our hearts, examining it, and seeing where we need to make changes and repairs.
Throughout our lives, we drift off-path, sometimes so far off, that it’s more like going the opposite direction. And the function of being a Catholic community—being a community that walks this path together, especially a time such as Advent—is to help each other get back on the path.
What happens to us? What causes us to lose our way? I think it’s one of two things: we either don’t really believe what our faith tells us follows this life: death, judgment, heaven and hell; or like the people whom John called a ‘brood of vipers’, we fall into the trap of thinking that we don’t need a Savior. For these, John said to his listeners, “Do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father’”. Just as they thought being descendants of Abraham was sufficient pedigree, we sometimes think our Baptism and even our half-hearted approach to our faith is enough to get us by. John would tell us that there is a consequence in the next life to how we live in this life, and that our Christian pedigree is not enough. “Repent!” he would say. Or more to the point, “Amend in your life, and seek God’s forgiveness”.
For those of us who are already fully into the Christmas swing—with reindeer antlers on our cars, an orchestrated light show on our lawns, donning our giant snowflake sweaters, and echoing in our heads are words like, “Deck the hall with boughs of holly…..'Tis the season to be jolly”—we might be thinking “Dang! That John the Baptist is kind of a Grinch! He needs to get into the holiday spirit, because that ‘repent’ thing is just a little too judgy and not very festive.”
No doubt, it stands in contrast to all that, but it’s also true preparation for the beautiful gift, the miracle that it’s really all about, even if all that gets lost in the holiday chaos. It’s preparation that it might be a real coming, and not just a superficial celebration, that can easily come to be about merely celebrating ourselves.
For now, we need to look inwardly and make some real changes, and John the Baptist tells us to take it seriously. I wonder, would John ask us, “What are your rough ways that need to be made smooth?” I’ll extend that question to this one:”When last did you really open up your heart in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, revealing your heart for what it is: beautiful, but marked by sin?”
And there are a handful of reasons for the reluctance among many Catholics to go to confession. One is that maybe we’ve lost sense of sin. Our culture has told us long enough that “if it’s not illegal and you aren’t hurting anyone else—at least that they’re not complaining about—there’s no harm.” But is that the standard Jesus calls us to live by? Another reason that some don’t go to reconciliation is pride—that maybe they’re above submitting themselves like a child. This pride-filled thinking tends to be marked by a belief that “I’ve outsmarted the Church and it’s directives….I’ve outsmarted all the humble and holy saints like Mother Teresa”, who sought God’s mercy and conversion of her heart in this beautiful sacrament. This pride-filled thinking is usually accompanied by the notion that the Eucharist something to which we are entitled, rather than a gift to which we conform ourselves. It’s a mindset that regales in the personal anthem, I Did It My Way.
But another reason is fear. Some think, “It’s been soooooooo long, I don’t know where to begin….and plus the sense of shame of revealing how long it’s been”. That fear is not from God. Satan loves to talk you out of the transformative experience of the love and mercy of God that awaits you. Be not afraid.
John the Baptist calls us out: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths”. As we move through these days of Advent and prepare for our Lord, may we truly look within and examine our hearts. What rough ways need to be made smooth? How have I drifted from the path? What is God calling me to change or set aside in these days of preparation? Let us trust in his mercy and love, and the healing grace it brings. All so that we might truly be ready for so great a gift.