PREPARE THE WAY FOR THE LORD
When
I read this text it always sends a bit of a shiver down my spine as I
realize that the role of preparing the way for the Lord is mine as well
as John the Baptist’s. Each one of us is called to do our bit in
preparing the way for the Lord to come a second time. John the Baptist
has done it for the first arrival of Jesus and now it is our turn to
prepare for the time when He will come to judge the world.
The
funny thing is that the work of John the Baptist as he describes it is
pretty much the same as what we are called to do. John was literally
preparing for the arrival of the Incarnate Son of God; we are called to
prepare the way for the Gospel to be proclaimed to the hearts of all men
and women. The gift of salvation came in the person of Jesus and it
continues to be born into the world in the form of the Gospel through
the lives of the disciples of Jesus — you and me.
Sometimes
it is good to look at the words of the Scriptures literally. Perhaps
they will speak to us of specific situations in our lives. Let each of
us reflect upon the ideas of “making straight paths; making rough ways
smooth and crooked ones straight.” How do these ideas impact us and
apply to our lives? This is the question that really has to be answered
for our own salvation to be complete. Our participation in the work of
Jesus – in the work of the Gospel – is an essential component of our
faith. Each of us has to take the time to reflect upon our lives and
examine how we are called to participate in the Church’s
vocation of bringing the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
John’s
is a voice crying in the wilderness. There will be plenty of times when
this is what it will feel like to us – no one listening and a seeming
waste of time. However, that is not our problem. It is up to God to make
our voices of truth heard by others. It is His grace that will prepare
peoples’ hearts for the Gospel. Fr. Steve Tynan, MGL
REFLECTION QUESTION: Are you doing all that you can to help proclaim the Good News of salvation to the world?
Holy Spirit, increase my zeal for the Gospel so that I will more faithfully live and proclaim its truth to everyone I meet.
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