One of my favorite quotes ever is from Hamlet when Polonius states that “brevity is the soul of wit”. Truer words have rarely been spoken. What we say speaks volumes about who we are, and what we believe. Subsequently the more we say, the more opportunities there are for us to make that impression about ourselves either positive or negative. From a purely analytical point of view, we are likely to make a far more favorable impression by limiting our words and giving greater thought to the things we do say. (talk about the antithesis of most behavior observed in the various forms of media).

Shakespeare was not the first one to utter words along these lines. In our first reading from the book of Sirach, we hear something philosophically similar – “When a sieve is shaken, the husks appear; so do ones faults when one speaks”. The moral of both of these statements is also quite similar – we are better off with more thinking and less talking, at least until we have truly given thought to what is going to come out of our mouths.

If the two excerpts above are not enough to convince us that we need to be incredibly careful with what we say, then perhaps we will listen to Jesus himself. He did not focus on how our words would define our own standing, but presented a far more urgent reason for caution. The power our words can have on others. This is true of both the good and the bad. Our Lord tells us that we must always be conscious of our own situation and actions before we try to guide others. Not simply because we want to avoid being seen as hypocritical, but because we don’t want our own errors in thought adversely affect someone else – we cannot guide someone else effectively if we ourselves are blind to the path. This is one of the reasons why humble self-assessment is so crucial to anyone who wants to be of help to those around them. We need to be brutally honest with ourselves (not always and easy thing), but without this we cannot hope to be effective in assisting anyone else.

Each and every day comes with great potential for us to either help or harm others with our words. Whether this is in a casual conversation at our work, discussion around the dinner table, or an opinion stated online, our words can have a deep impact on others that we often cannot anticipate. We have relatively few ways of knowing the things that those around us are sometimes dealing with. Only our Lord truly knows these things. It is however, all the more reason for us to be judicious with our speech, and at all times strive for kindness, compassion, and truth. “For from the fullness of the heart, the mouth speaks”.

Life in this earthly existence can sometimes be filled with drudgery, perhaps even misery, as the prophet Job tells us in our first reading. It can sometimes seem like there is no way out of difficult circumstances, and so we even descend into despair. This is not exactly an upbeat way of beginning this discussion of our readings this Sunday, but the reality is that life can be hard, and it is not typically lived in the carefree and grandiose fashion that the media often portrays as the norm. This illusion that we have grown accustomed to, particularly in this country, is a falsehood.

Job spoke of the limited number of days that we have on this earth, and how swiftly they pass by. He spoke of the restlessness that he felt, and how sometimes he felt like a man without hope. Given what we know he endured, some of these sentiments are rather understandable. Job may have heard some of the prophecies about the coming messiah, but he did not have the knowledge of Him that we do, and that is a fundamental, and frankly mindset altering difference. We who are followers of Jesus Christ, know of the hope that is to be found in him, even when times are hard.

In our Gospel today we hear of how Jesus went about healing not only the mother-in-law of Simon, but also those even in the nearby villages. He healed those who were ill in body, and in spirit. He brought hope to those who had been without it. He labored because he loved. Everyone was looking for him like sheep who seek the voice of the shepherd that they know is their refuge of safety and hope. This is the same hope that we carry today, so that when life becomes hard, we too have that hope to sustain us. Our Lord will always bring about in us the healing of our spirit in the time that He knows to be best for us. However, He does not always heal every physical infirmity that comes in this life. This is certainly not because of a lack of caring, but because it is a reality of our earthly existence since this is not where we truly belong. Yet, this harsh reality is not without purpose. Our infirmities can be a binding force between us and others who are suffering on the journey with us, so that we can band together and draw solace from one another as we share the path of suffering in this imperfect existence. This is one of the ways in which we are to function as parts of the body of Christ – to uphold one another as sinews that sometimes share affliction and the intimacy that can come only from that shared experience. In this way we can hold one another up as we journey toward our intended life with our God.

What a daunting message to a young girl, to be told by an angel that you will be the mother of God. It is understandable that Mary was troubled by the angel’s words. She was young, unmarried, and probably unsure that she could even take care of herself, let alone a child, and in particular the Son of God. This was an incredible amount to take in.

Yet, Mary asked only one simple, practical question in the course of the conversation, and when it was explained to her that she would conceive through the Spirit of God, she asked no more, and humbly accepted being part of God’s plan, and never looked back. She trusted in the Lord alone and needed nothing more than to know His will. Once this was revealed, this young virgin knew that nothing further was necessary. Her trust in God was complete, and she was content to let Him take over and manifest His plan through her.

As we prepare to celebrate the birth of our Lord, it is perhaps a good time to ask ourselves in this final Sunday of Advent, how accepting we truly are of God’s plan for us. Do we trust in the Lord enough to move forward with what we can sense to be His will, or will we ask more questions, do more investigating as to how His plan for us will fit in with our own, and perhaps delay or derail what has been revealed to us simply because we don’t like the message. Do we trust Him enough to move ahead with what He has in mind for us, or do we love and value our own feelings and opinions more? These are hard questions to ponder, yet they are crucial to our preparedness for the coming of the Savior. The coming that was begun so long ago with the birth of a small child, who came into the world for the express purpose of reconciling mankind with His Father by His life, death, and resurrection. Our Lord was born to this purpose, and in fulfilling it with everything He had, is deserving of the faith, love, and trust of each one of us, including our unhindered acceptance of His will for us. We too need to utter the words “May it be done according to your will”.  

The words from John in our Gospel today are incredibly powerful as both a statement of humility, and as a proclamation of authority as the one chosen by God to be His herald when He came to us as man. The words that he speaks – “I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, make straight the way of the Lord” are indeed forceful. Yet this bold statement is proclaimed after a full admission that he was not one of the authoritative sources that those questioning him supposed him to be. Moreover, he stated that he was not even worthy to untie the sandals of the one coming after him. In the Jewish culture this is a profoundly humble remark. Yet for all this, there is an undeniable passion in his words that proclaim his mission. Words that we would do well to draw close to ourselves as an example of our own mission as followers of Christ – to evangelize and to proclaim the good news to those who may not be familiar with it, and so prepare them for when He comes again.  

Yet sometimes there is the danger of our efforts becoming sluggish or losing momentum. John was a man on fire, and so we should be as well. Yet in our second reading Saint Paul makes a statement of caution that should continually resonate for us to remind us that we too need to maintain the fire within ourselves. He tells us “Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophetic utterances.” What he is cautioning against is the tendency to let the world distract us so that the flame within us becomes dim, and the very mission we are charged with – to continue to proclaim the words that the prophets passed along to us, becomes inconvenient, even distasteful to us. We can become poisoned by the world so that the very words that have the power to save can become something we despise because we are afraid to proclaim them since they may not be well received initially. We fear rejection and derision from those who have no real power over us, and forget the One who has power over all. We may no longer seek to prepare the way for Him to enter the hearts of others, and so save them. In this season of Advent, as we hopefully spend time in reflection, we need to ask ourselves where we stand. Do we seek to proclaim Gods word and prepare His way first and foremost, or have we let the world convince us that there is actually something in our lives that is more important?