Growing up, I observed how my family prepares for visitors. Whenever we expect a relative, friend, priest or government official, we prepare a couple of things to show hospitality, depending on how long the visitor is staying. Usually, we clean the house thoroughly, including the back yard, washrooms and couches, prepare good food, and, if a visitor is staying for a couple of days, then his or her bed is properly made. My family takes time to prepare for visitors so that they can experience a warm welcome and feel at home.
Advent is a period to prepare the way for the coming of our Lord. As a Catholic family, father, mother, son, daughter, grandma or grandpa, how are you preparing a way for the Lord? Will Jesus feel at home and find a comfortable place to be born in your heart? Will Jesus find you prepared, or is he going to be born in a manger again? And are you prepared to bring Jesus to others? These questions are significant for each of us.
In the Gospel of Luke, John the Baptist was chosen to prepare the way for the Lord. He calls out, and his words are equally meant for us as for the people to whom he directly spoke. We need to fill in the “valleys” and level the “mountains” of our souls, which may have resulted from our shallow prayer life and a minimalist way of living our faith. In case we’ve been involved in some secret or habitual sin, dishonest practices at work or at home, we are called to straighten them out and make restitution. If we have been pushing God off to the side of our road, if we have not been having time for him, now is the time for us to get our priorities straight.
John the Baptist came to proclaim a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Luke uses the word “repentance,” translated from the Greek word “metanoia,” which means a total conversion to a special relationship with God and other people. We need to open ourselves to an ever deeper change of heart and listen well to what Jesus is asking of us. This conversion is what will bring about the forgiveness of our sins.
Our own role is not unlike that of John the Baptist. We are also called to be prophets of Christ by announcing with our lives the coming of the Lord. We are to be his ambassadors of hope, love, freedom and peace to others. We are to assist people in filling their valleys and making their rough paths smooth. A word of affirmation and encouragement can work wonders. To have a naturally cheerful disposition can be a real witness to the joy of the Gospel.
Deacon Mugabi is in formation for the priesthood at the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity for the Diocese of Kabale, Uganda. His teaching parish is St. Pius X in White Bear Lake.
Sunday, Dec. 6
Second Sunday of Advent
Readings
- Baruch 5:1-9
- Philippians 1:4-6, 8-11
- Luke 3:1-6
