Today, the second Sunday of Advent, we focus on John the Baptist, one of the great prophets in the story of salvation. He prepared the people to receive Jesus by asking them to repent. John the Baptist proclaimed and called for attention when he said: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.” Every mountain and hill shall be made low. John the Baptist talked about road repair. Compared to other countries, we have good roads, good highways. We can drive for long distances easily. And We can see far away. However, when we go down into the valley, we don’t see the other side. Because the valley and mountains block our view. That is why John the Baptist asks us to clean the way, to remove all the obstacles and make low the mountain in order to see the Lord who is coming.
Now, when John talks about straightening the paths and make low the mountain, what does he mean? How can we make straight the way of the Lord? There is a story that can inspire us. It is about a boy who gave to his parents a lovely Christmas card, and the message impressed me so much. It really made me stop and reflect. The note says: “Mom and Dad, we need love and attention, NOT more things to make us ungrateful.” He signed it with the names of his brothers and sisters.
The biggest trap of this season is to give the presents to children and friends in order to make them happy. This note challenges us and needs our reflection and meditation. We need love and attention, not more things to make us ungrateful. This request can change everything. On one hand, it tells us that Advent is a time to focus more on people than on material things. Advent is time to fix our relationship with our brothers and sisters. Advent is time to pay more attention to our children and relatives. Time to show them how much we love them. How much we care for them. More attention to spiritual attitude. On the other hand, this note tells us that we need to remove all the mountains, valleys, stuff that distract us from getting the real meaning of Advent. It tells us that we have to remove all the things that block us to love and forgive. Advent is time to identify these things. It could be the valley of resentment, mountain of pride, mountain of indifference, mountain of selfishness, anger, gossip, which we never resolved.
It could also be the mountain of intolerance and impatience that block us from being more compassionate and merciful people. Or the mountain of gifts, toys, movies, electronic devices that block us from seeing Jesus coming to us through the needy people we meet every day. We can complete the list by asking ourselves: What can we do, or what can we remove or change in order to prepare the way for the Lord? Removing all these mountains is the challenge we have to face during this season of Advent. But in doing so, we experience a true joy and peace…I know that it is not easy. It demands decision and God’s grace. Let us pray….Let us ask God to help us to remove all that impedes us to prepare for his coming.
