Scripture Reflection, December 7: Prepare the way of the Lord!

Scripture Readings:
Isaiah 40: 1-5, 9-11
Psalm 85
II Peter 3: 8-14
Mark 1: 1-8

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When I was a Passionist seminarian at CTU I spent a semester of study in Israel. It was a wonderful opportunity to walk the roads that Jesus traveled. The Gospel stories came alive in a whole new way for me. Our study group lived in Ein Karim, a village near Jerusalem located in the “Judean hill country.” We stayed at a hostel connected to the church which commemorates the birth of John the Baptist. I used to run a lot at that time and I distinctly remember going for long runs along the roads outside of Jerusalem. The terrain vividly reminded me of the figure of John the Baptist – rugged, desert-like, and very hilly. I could easily imagine running around a bend and meeting the figure of John coming out of a cave in the hills.

John the Baptist is that mysterious prophet who darts across the pages of the Gospels and glances in and out of our lives of faith. Just when we are tempted to overlook or forget him, John reappears in the Gospel; he emerges out of the desert to confront us again. Like many prophets, John has a strong, forceful personality. He is even something of a haunting figure. John is a spokesperson of God who is not easily controllable, and that distinctive characteristic is what eventually leads to his martyrdom.

As we meet John the Baptist in this Sunday’s Gospel, we see him as one who stands on the brink of something new. This is a new moment, a time pregnant with possibility because God is about to act in a transforming way. And so John challenges the people who come to him to open their hearts and minds to the inbreaking presence and action of God. “One mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” Mark interprets this dramatic appearance of John through the words of Isaiah: “A voice of one crying out in the desert: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.’”

As we listen to John the Baptist this Sunday, we are invited to reflect upon his challenge to prepare the way of the Lord. What does that really mean for us? What are we called to do in order to prepare for the coming of Christ into our lives in a new and deeper way? I would suggest three ways in which we can engage in this preparation.

First, you and I are invited to become more aware of our deep need and hunger for God and for the salvation that God offers in Christ. It is so easy for us to exist merely on the superficial level of life. We can go through our daily routines of study or work, hang out with our friends, watch television and listen to our iPods, and find other ways to distract ourselves from the deeper dimensions of life and of ourselves. None of these activities is bad; all of us need a certain amount of routine in order to get through life and all of us need some healthy distraction. But we face the temptation of ignoring the bigger questions and deeper hungers that lie within us: questions about the person I want to become and how I really want to live my life; the hunger to find meaning in truly loving, committed relationships; and, ultimately, the thirst for God. Saint Augustine put it well when he wrote his Confessions: “You have made us for yourself, O God, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.” There is indeed a restlessness at the depths of our hearts that can only be stilled through a living relationship with the God who loves us more than we can imagine.

Second, John the Baptist challenges us to “make straight the paths of the Lord.” During Advent, we are invited to look honestly at the attitudes and behaviors that may have become obstacles to experiencing the presence and power of Christ. Christ is always faithfully present to us, but sometimes we set up roadblocks that keep him at a distance. Those “roadblocks” come in many varieties and are probably different for each of us, but they include things like: a refusal to forgive those who have hurt us; an inability to listen to other people and even to listen to life; patterns of living that are unfaithful to our most important commitments; forms of addictive behavior that diminish our personal freedom; a basic self-centeredness that ignores the needs and concerns of those around us. The Gospel summons each of us to reflect honestly on our lives and to acknowledge the ways of thinking and acting that may block out the presence of Christ. We must pray for the grace of God to deal honestly with those roadblocks so that, in the words of Isaiah, we may “make straight . . . a highway for our God.”

Third, as disciples of Jesus preparing the way of the Lord means working for the reign of God that he proclaimed and made present in his own ministry. Shortly after the scene in Mark’s Gospel that we hear this Sunday, Jesus appears and proclaims, “The kingdom of God is at hand.” Jesus announced the rule of the God whose presence means life for people. When he opened the eyes of the blind and reached out to touch the dreaded leper, when he forgave the sins of the penitent woman, when he dined with outcasts and sinners, he embodied the presence of the God whose deepest desire is the flourishing of people. He revealed the God who is particularly concerned about those who find themselves on the lowest rungs of society. And so we prepare the way of the Lord in our lives by reflecting his concern for others, especially for those who are most in need and most forgotten in our world. We prepare the way for the coming of the Lord in our lives through active commitment to the values of the kingdom in our personal relationships and in society.

Getting into touch with our deep hunger for God and for the salvation that God offers in Christ; confronting the roadblocks that keep Christ at a distance; committing ourselves to the values of the reign of God in concrete ways. I believe that these are important means by which we prepare the way for the Lord to come into our lives more fully. These activities are not confined to the Advent season but are meant to characterize our entire lives as followers of Jesus. As we approach the table of the Lord this Sunday, may we remember that Christ is the one who draws close to us, inviting us to open our minds and hearts more fully to his presence in our lives.

Fr. Robin Ryan, cp