DO YOU BELIEVE?

DO YOU BELIEVE? – 2^nd Sunday of Advent, Year A

            The message of Advent is The Lord is Coming, so get ready! It’s a test of our faith. “Do I really believe the Lord is coming now into my life in a deeper way?” It’s a test of hope. “Is my hope for my overall life truly based in the Lord’s coming or is it in something or someone else?” It’s a test of love. If I truly believe the Lord is coming and He is the hope of my life, I have to make a response of love to so great a reality in my life. I cannot ignore it, or fail to make the necessary preparations.

            The questions had to be responded to by the Old Testament people of Isaiah’s time when they were in the wilderness. They had to be responded to by the people who encountered John the Baptizer in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, in preparation for the coming of the Messiah. They have to be responded to by all people in every age, ours included, and all throughout our individual lives. The questions don’t always come at convenient times.

            Often we are confronted with the Lord’s coming to us in a wilderness or desert setting of some kind. That setting may be physical or economic, mental or emotional, spiritual or moral, or a combination of all of these. In the wilderness and desert of the human heart, mind and soul, the Lord’s coming is announced. In the wilderness and desert there are always dangers, obstacles, hardships, challenges and needs to be met. The majesty of the physical wilderness doesn’t mean that it’s always an easy place to live. It’s generally a place of struggle against the elements. Survival in the desert is for the strong and tested.

            In the desert there are always valleys to fill in, rugged plains to cross, hills to be leveled, and mountains to conquer. We can wonder how the Israelites received Isaiah’s message. “In the desert prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God! Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill shall be made low; the rugged land shall be made a plain, the rough country, a broad valley.” All of this would have to happen for the Lord to come. “Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed…” Some must have thought “impossible”, others “the Lord has forgotten us in this wilderness”, and some were no doubt filled with faith, hope and love, and prepared themselves for the Lord’s coming.

            Five hundred years later John the Baptizer received similar responses to his call to prepare for the Lord’s coming. We can imagine some saying: Why would He choose someone “…clothed in camel’s hair…” and eating “…locusts and wild honey” to tell us? Others were concerned about the moral demands, the call to confess one’s sins, and abandon them. “That’s too difficult and too much to ask of us. I can’t confess.” At this particular moment, we hear the same message in our life: “Make your life ready for the Lord’s coming. Confess your sins and clear away the mountains of serious sins, the rough edges of selfishness, lack of love, the valleys of addiction, habits of sins, and everything against the teachings of the Gospel”.

            Some will say: “It’s impossible to meet these demands”. Others will say: “I believe the Lord Jesus died, rose and is present through the Person of the Holy Spirit, but I don’t think He is going to come in glory for a long time, and I don’t think He is going to come into my life in a unique way now. I can’t imagine things better. If He did, that would make more demands on me. I’d have conflicts with my family. Still others may say: “I don’t want the Lord to come into my wilderness. My life is filled with sin. I am not ready to give up sin. If I really believed the Lord was coming, I would be ashamed of my sins. I would have to repent and get ready”. Some may say: “The Lord has so many other people besides me to come to. I don’t really expect Him now. Therefore, I can’t get too concerned about preparation”.

            Our preparation reveals our faith, hope and love. The all-powerful Lord Jesus comes and can overcome all the obstacles, if we are willing. “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” Prepare!

Reflection from Divine Mercy #477

“Silence is a sword in the spiritual struggle…The sword of silence will cut off everything that would like to cling to the soul.”