PREPARATION TIME
Isaiah 40:1–5, 9–11; 64:1, 3b–8; Psalm 85; 2 Peter 3:8–14; Mark 1:1–8
Advent offers us the opportunity to celebrate the first coming of Christ and also to prepare for his second coming. His first coming was a very great event that God himself had to prepare. All the rituals and sacrifices of old were all in preparation for His first coming. We too have to prepare for his second coming.
When shall this be? We do not know. The second reading today reminds us that we should not be anxious over time and date. With the Lord, one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day (2 Peter 3:8). For us humans, we have our own idea of time; we live in time, and so we judge things to be late or early, slow or fast. God does not live in time, so we cannot say that God is late or that God is fast. Thus, Peter says that the Lord is not slow in coming, as some may understand slowness, but he is patient so that we can repent and be saved. During this period of God’s patience, we are called to prepare for him.
Still in preparation, Isaiah in the first reading and John in the gospel reading cried out, saying, Prepare a way for the Lord; make his path straight (Is. 40:3, Mark 1:3). This is a time when preparation is everywhere in the air: preparations for end-of-year parties, Christmas clothes and gifts, cards, food—we are all ‘getting ready’. We are looking forward to getting ready for Christmas. ‘Looking forward’ and ‘getting ready’ are basic Christian characters. Every Christian is expected to look forward and get ready for what lies ahead. Beyond looking forward and getting ready for Christmas, we are called to look forward and get ready for the second coming of Christ.
Again, Isaiah spoke about “a voice crying in the wilderness.” John was the voice crying in the wilderness. John the Baptist was the voice of God to the people. We, too, should be God’s voice to people. In the world, there are many voices, but only one voice is reliable, and that is the voice of God. If you follow the voice of mortals, you commit blunders. Follow the voice of God, and you will prosper. We too represent God’s voice to the people; we must voice out the truth, we must voice out for the voiceless, and we must make Christ known.
Lastly, John did not only say, “Repent, the kingdom of God is at hand.” He also did penance; he wore camel hair and ate locusts and wild honey. So, he had a strong witness dimension in his efforts to bring people to Christ. His witness and courage provided him with great credibility, and as such, many people considered his message. Today, not only will preachers hardly preach the gospel of repentance, but they also lack credibility. Our dimension of witnessing must include repentance, penance, and renunciation.
Fr. Daniel Evbotokhai
