2ND SUNDAY OF ADVENT

Today the Gospel introduces the figure of St. John the Baptist.  The Baptist was not like the zealots. His preaching did not prepare anyone for war, except for the war against dehumanizing sin. He wanted only to prepare people for the coming of Almighty God into their midst. Would they be ready? Would they know Him when He arrived? Would they listen to His voice and teaching?

     Well, it is thanks to John’s faithful ministry that some at least were. Some of his own followers became the first to follow Our Lord, including St. Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. They had learned so much from John that they were able to recognise Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah, the true fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecies.

     John’s preaching was to “prepare a way for the Lord” by making “His paths straight”. The winding paths are those which we cannot see far along, in which we take refuge as in half-truths. Similarly, John was called to fulfill Isaiah’s prophecy as the forerunner by “filling in every valley and laying low every mountain”. These are not the valleys and mountains of geography, but of the human soul.

     John called his hearers to look into their hearts and souls and see where the ruggedness of selfishness and sin kept God out. Repentance would put an end to that and make them ready for Christ. That is why John’s message is not for his time only, but speaks to every time, including our own.             ~ Fr. Paul Dobson