A voice of one
crying out in the desert:
"Prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight his paths.
Every valley shall be filled
and every mountain and hill shall be made low.
The winding roads shall be made straight,
and the rough ways made smooth,
and all flesh shall see the salvation of
God."
Luke 3:6
During the liturgical year, we do not hear much from the
prophet Baruch. As a messenger and poet of God, he has accompanied the Jewish
people into exile and captivity. Jerusalem is their City of Identity, but only
in memory and prayer.
The Israelites have been confronted with their
infidelities and long to return to their homeland and their relationship with
the God who brought them out of the first exile in Egypt. What we hear is a new
song from the prophet. There is hope and Jerusalem is the centre or image of
recovery and restoration. The great city, remembered by those now in captivity
as beautiful, but in reality reduced to destruction, is pictured with new
glorious dressing. This prophetic poem addresses Jerusalem, not only as a city,
but more, the people who are to return and be adorned themselves with the glory
of God.
There is return to Jerusalem promised and also the return
of God’s faithful love for all God’s holy and redeemed people. They have been
remembered by God. The way will be made clear as will the mercy and justice of
God.
The prophet might have been standing in the sun too long
or under the influence of some strange spirit. There he is in the midst of
exile and he begins, like a cheerleader to expand what sounds like a dream. In
reality it is the Word of God meant to begin the return. The prophet’s words
are an advance-advertising alerting the people for the coming of salvation and
the rebuilding of the Great City. The question would arise about whether the
people will believe in the midst of their shame and gloom.
The main Advent character arrives on stage in today’s
Gospel. After quite a lengthy historical setting, Luke presents John as
appearing prophetically announcing the coming of “the salvation of God.” He, as
did Baruch, speaks of valleys and hills being made level and the windy roads
made straight.
John is preaching a baptism of repentance. Baptism itself
is a purification ritual and John is inviting people to be purified from the
unholy hanging-on-to's in their lives. In his way he is asking the people to
check out what they are holding onto for their identities, their securities. In
short he is announcing that they will be asked to let go of the old and stale
forms of relating with God and prepare for something, a Some One who is coming
to be held onto. The familiar is so comforting and the Baptist is proclaiming
the latest surprise in a long history of unusual revelations.
Jesus is not on stage yet, but the dramatic tension is
rising. The people, and we as well, are called to trust the off-stageness of
the Promised One. The people in exile, the people listening to the Baptist, we
listening to both, all are called to re-pent or return to our being held by the
ever-loving and faithful God.
Our hearts have hands in a way and we easily tend to
reshape gifts into little gods and those hands and grasp these gods for
life-support. This is a wonderful time of year, of preparing to give gifts and
receive as well. The people of Israel were in exile, because they had forgotten
the gift of their being God’s holy people and their city a holy place of God’s
presence. We need Advent to remember what’s what and what’s not. The
“off-stage” voice of the One Who is to come is what will get things straight,
will fill in the empty valleys and level our mountains of defensive fear. To
allow this, we trust the call, the unusual, the new of Jesus’ coming. We need
these Advent moments to check out our little heart-hands and see if there is
any room in those hands for our receiving the new Surprise.
Our Western World relaxes with the predictable, knowing
causes and expecting results. This makes trusting the unpredictable and
surprising God a great leap. The leap by God from eternity to time-bound,
flesh-bound finitude is as unpredictable as God taking back the people of
Jerusalem to their city of shame and glorifying it again with honor and
fruitfulness. Advent can surprise us even more when we free ourselves from
holding on to what we think we are entitled to, that is security and
control.
“The
Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.” Ps. 126
Dear Lord,
Through the darkness, I look for your wisdom.I want my heart to be open to you.
But sometimes in these days, it seems that
so many things come between us.
Help me to be awake and aware
of the radiance you bring to my life.Help me to be grateful each day
for the blessings of family and friends.
Let me be a peacemaker
in my own life, and in the world. Let me pray especially for this difficult world
and those who are so in need of an end to violence.
My heart begs for this as my Advent prayer today.
Source: Creighton
Online Ministries
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