As we celebrate our second Sunday in Advent, I am beginning to see, and sense, many of the old familiar signs that come with the season. The homes and Churchs are in preparation for the coming season with decorations, there is a feeling of expectation in the air, and I see people beginning to feel a bit more warmth toward others. There is even the familiar scents in the air of crisp cold winds mixed with pine, and sometimes a hint of the spices from pumpkin pies and mulled ciders. All these wonderful things come to us with the season’s beginnings. It’s a beautiful time of year.
Then of course, there is John the Baptist in today’s Gospel, who is also a familiar voice at this time of year. We hear his call to repentance, and in particular his focused commentary toward the Pharisees who he refers to as a brood of vipers. Not exactly the message you’re going to find on too many greeting cards. The thing is, while it may not give us the warm fuzzy feelings that the other sensory stuff I mentioned earlier does, it is still far more vital to our being able to celebrate the season with any sort of grasp on what we are actually celebrating.
We are called now, to prepare the way of the Lord, whose birth into this world in human form we will celebrate during the Christmas season. This requires effort on our part, and it is not always comfortable effort. In our first reading Isaiah speaks of the profound change of behavior of many of God’s creations on that day when the shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse. He speaks of the He whom the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon, and of the truly just judgement he will bring. He speaks of how the wolf will be the guest of the lamb, and of how the leopard will lie down with the kid. He illustrates for us all via the description of the unlikely camaraderie that will be possible on that day because of the fundamental change of heart that will accompany those who are God’s creations and who seek Christ. This is the call then for each of us, to break past our comfort zone, to do away with our preconceived notions about others, to embrace those who we have normally avoided and show caring and compassion to all, not just those with whom we are comfortable. This is not something we can achieve on our own. We need to pray to God for the grace to accomplish this. We need to be strengthened to take on a task that heretofore has been too difficult for us to achieve. This is the change of heart, that is called for in this season of Advent. To prepare the way of the Lord by a radical change in our thinking and in our behaviors. To pursue salvation by acknowledging our shortcomings and prayerfully pursuing change that will allow us to truly prepare, and then celebrate with meaning the birth of our Lord at Christmas. We cannot do one without the other. We cannot truly celebrate our Lords birth without having also put in the effort.
If we are to heed John’s call as the forerunner of the Lord, we must welcome one another in the way that Saint Paul speaks of in our second reading “Welcome one another, then, as Christ welcomed you, for the glory of God”. We need to truly die to self, and in turn welcome and embrace those with whom we have had our differences, those who have been estranged from us during the year(s), to reach out to all who we have formerly ignored or avoided. We need to let all God’s creations know the true meaning of celebrating the birth of His Son at Christmas, by being welcoming to all those created in His image. This is Christmas, this is the essence that the core of our beings, our souls, actually seek whether we consciously realize it or not. I promise you that all the lights, tree’s, presents, and sensory experiences we have created over the years in the name of Christmas will pale in comparison with the true fulfillment of our having prepared ourselves for the birth of Christ in this way that emulates what he was to do for each of us.
The Deacons Bench 