How Can I Prepare the Way of the Lord?

  

Luke 3: 1-6

 John the Baptist Prepares the Way

3 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene— ² during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. ³ He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁴ As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:

“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
    make straight paths for him.
⁵ Every valley shall be filled in,
    every mountain and hill made low.
The crooked roads shall become straight,
    the rough ways smooth.
⁶ And all people will see God’s salvation.’”

In this passage, we read strange names, familiars to us, only because of our annual reading of this Gospel, but to the readers of that time, very important specifics which made sense to them  The mission of John the Baptist is also clearly spelled out: repentance, change of hearts to prepare for the presence of Jesus and his message of love and forgiveness.  John's message is as relevant to us in 2021 as it was his his lifetime 2000 years ago. The weeks of Advent, which fly by so fast, are set aside as a time to specifically prepare for the coming of Jesus on Christmas.  In reality, he as come, lived, taught, died for our sins and returned to the Father, but we need to repent and prepare over and over again, for as humans, our pledges to change and retool our lives are short-lived. One week of Advent has already past.  How have we scored in keeping to our Advent plan and goals? Probably not too well. "too busy, too much on our plate."  Always the same excuse. Let's gear us this second week and do a few, specific and consistent acts of preparation, by prayer, reflective reading or outreach to the poor. This is a Sunday, a day of  rest and prayer.  Let's not let this precious opportunity slip through our fingers.

Bro. Rene