By Bishop Joseph M. Siegel
The Bishop’s Corner
Each of us has our own ways of preparing for important upcoming events. For a job interview, we might look online for help on how to prepare a resume and practice interview techniques with a friend. A major family celebration requires shopping and perhaps finishing some projects around the house. We know athletes prepare for the big game by eating certain foods, taking quiet time for mental focus, and perhaps wearing a lucky pair of socks. What is important is to know for what we are preparing so that we can set our strategy for getting ready.
Advent is a season of preparation, but for what are we preparing? Our answer will determine the type of preparation we undertake. If we think of the upcoming Christmas season as a series of festive dates on the calendar, we will prepare in a certain way: booking parties, making lists of things to do and buy, shopping, decorating, baking and so on. These things aren’t bad in themselves, but Advent offers us so much more.
John the Baptist is our Advent guide and his proclamation, “Prepare the way of the Lord” gives us the focus for our preparation. Advent is the time when we are to make ready for Christ’s coming in history, in mystery and in glory. Through the Old Testament prophets, we are to share in the ancient expectancy of the Messiah for His first coming in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago. We are also to renew in our lives a thirsting, an ardent desire for Christ as He comes to us here and now in the Eucharist and the other sacraments, in the Scriptures, in our prayers, as well as in the people the Lord places in our lives. Advent also reminds to prepare for that day when we will see Him face to face, whether at the end of our earthly lives or at His second coming in glory at the end of time.
The message of John the Baptist conveys this spirit of expectation. He tells all those who will listen, both then and now, to prepare themselves for something great is about to happen in their midst. The Lord is coming to us, and we make ready His path by repentance and conversion. The people of John’s time knew to the depth of their being that he spoke the truth — that God was about to act on their behalf. They had to get ready. They wanted to be prepared, so they came to the Jordan for a baptism of repentance.
What about us? We, too, will be doing lots of preparation over the next few weeks. The challenge put before us is to be very clear about for what we are preparing. If during Advent we do more shopping than praying, more decorating than reflecting, then for what or for whom are we really getting ready?
Let us not mistake the importance of John’s words for us. Christ is coming and we need to get ready by leveling the rocky ways of our selfishness, prejudice and unforgiveness, filling the valleys of apathy, complacency and unbelief, straightening those detours of sinful habits and lifestyles. While all the external preparations can be good and helpful, we can’t neglect preparing our hearts — going out into the solitude and quiet of our hearts with John — to make ready a path for Christ.
This can mean getting up a little earlier for some time of quiet reflection with the Scriptures or the rosary, attending daily Advent Mass or making time to stop by an Adoration Chapel for a period of prayer. We can straighten out the sinful paths in our lives by celebrating the Sacrament of Reconciliation. With generous hearts, we can help provide for those less fortunate than ourselves. Perhaps in the spirit of John the Baptist, Advent is the opportunity to invite a family member or friend to come with you to Mass, to invite the person to consider returning to or joining the Church.
God is going to do something wonderful for us this Christmas, but only if we make a conscious and deliberate effort in the coming weeks to prepare not only the house and the tree, but especially the way that leads to our hearts and lives.