John the Baptist's mission was to "Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths./ Every valley shall be filled,/ and every mountain and hill shall be made low,/ and the crooked shall be made straight,/ and the rough ways made smooth;/and all flesh shall see the salvation of God." (Lk 3: 4-6, Is 40:3-5). In the days of Isaiah and John, road building was mainly seeking the route of least resistance, so roads curved around hills and dipped into the valleys. Monsignor Ronald A. Knox reminds us that modern road building depends on bulldozers and earth movers never dreamed of by the two prophets. We are familiar with such road construction, and the imagery of mountains made low and valleys filled is something we've actually experienced.
This analogy gets right to the heart of Advent...no pussyfooting around the obstacles in our lives which prevent us from giving our Messiah, King, Savior, his rightful road to and place in our hearts. We need to approach the living of our faith with a bulldozer and dynamite to level the granite ledge of our stinginess in the face of the great economic or spiritual needs of our neighbor, or of our complacent attitude toward prayer or weekly Mass attendance, finding any excuse to avoid them. We need the strength and passion I heard in a 16 year old who told me that when he is confirmed, he wants to make a commitment to live his faith with all his heart and soul, and not just be a Catholic in name only. The spirit of Isaiah and John the Baptist lives in this young student, and, (as I'm discovering) in the hearts of many other students at Central Catholic. Their example, their convictions are as much of a challenge as was the preaching of their predecessors in the Scriptures. Let's join them in bulldoziing our way, not only through Advent, but through every day of our lives.
Bro. Rene
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