(Leonardo da Vinci
John the Baptist)
"Prepare the Way of the Lord, make straight his paths!"
Mark 1: 1-8
I
have wondered now and then that if the internet, websites or blogs were
available to Jesus, John the Baptist, the Gospel Evangelists and St. Paul,
would they have used them? Surely, St. Paul at least would have found the
internet useful for communication between the ancient Christian
communities. His famed Epistles would
have been spread far and wide in an instant.
Jesus’ preaching could have been read over and over again by crowds in
distant regions. The Gospel writers
could have told the powerful life changing events of Jesus’ ministry, his death
and resurrection and offered a blog for their personal reflections. Indeed the Good News of the Gospel would have
developed in a far different manner than it did.
Yet,
this Sunday we see a far more primitive, by today’s standards, and basic method
of communication: “John the Baptist appeared in the desert proclaiming a
baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” The baptizer, a strange and unsettling figure
in some ways, stands along the shore of a well-known river and apparently
engaged the hungry crowds through his charismatic preaching and his cleansing
baptism in the Jordan River. No books, no newspapers, no internet, websites or
blog - just a voice of conviction and
his charismatic persona.
Yet
the force and presence of this “voice” in the desert has become the
quintessential call passed on from generation to generation as we “Prepare the
way of the Lord.” The fiery cry of John,
like a television or radio announcer about to present a significant person of
great notoriety, prepares anyone who would listen for Jesus formal coming. As he (Jesus) is about to appear, we must be
prepared and ready. How? Conversion and repentance of personal sin and
the water of baptism is a rich sign of that repentance.
However,
this figure John points to is no rock star, movie personality, or influential
political figure, here today and gone tomorrow. This is the humble servant of
God, the Lord who now enters our lives in human history and pushes forward the
spirit of the ancient prophets and specifically of John himself. He, John reminds us, “will baptize you with
the Holy Spirit.” He fulfills all that the prophets and Jewish people hoped
for. John sets the stage and raises the
bar of expectation that something, someone in fact, will profoundly move
history in a new direction. John’s
voice, then, is to be heard over and over again since the call to conversion is
a daily invitation we all have.
We
know there is something innate in the human spirit that longs for someone more
powerful than us. Those who study the
power of an addiction, for example, may feel the pull of the addiction is more
powerful than them. It could be alcohol,
smoking, drugs, gambling, or even technology. It could be something less but some
repetitive behavior that I feel impossible to live without and that which
consumes my time in an unhealthy way. In
its darkest most destructive form an addiction can destroy not only the person
who is the addict but his/her family as well.
That
power over us can only be overcome through hard work and in its purest form
through faith as well.
We
also long for community. We are social
creatures; made for one another and God intends us to live in relationship not
isolation. True loneliness is a feeling
of isolation and pain.
John’s
voice promises all a way to follow that will free us from isolation and powers
which can destroy rather than build up.
As Isaiah speaks in our first reading this Sunday: “Comfort, give
comfort to my people . . . every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and
hill shall be made low . . .then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed.” Jesus’ coming among us provides the WAY to
freedom and peace. In his coming the
isolated are brought to community and the powers that destroy our freedom are
broken though an embrace of his role and his way in our life.
Both
Isaiah and John provide these images of great geographical changes which are
symbolic of these forces and powers over us.
This person of whom John speaks is the One who will free us and, as
Isaiah writes: “Like a shepherd he feeds his flock; in his arms he gathers the
lambs, carrying them in his bosom, and leading the ewes with care.”
These
words of Isaiah brought solace to a people enslaved in a foreign land; a people
exiled to Babylon who feared God had abandoned them. For us, they may symbolize enslavement in the
form of moral confusion and a life weighed down by bad choices or the
unexpected surprises we all deal with at time to time.
So
we are ready to welcome a God who is mighty and strong yet at the same time
gentle and comforting. In this end, this
God will visit us not with force and fear but with mercy, gentleness and
love. Yet, we must prepare and we must
accept whatever process we need to turn our lives around and to welcome him at
his coming.
Come
Lord and set us free!
That, when he comes in glory and majesty
and all is at last made manifest,
we who watch for that day
may inherit the great promise
in which now we dare to hope . . .
(Preface 1 for Advent)
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