Prepare the Way

A Reflection on the Gospel for December 4, 2022:
The Second Sunday of Advent

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Matthew
3. 1-12

In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said,

“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’”

Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance. Do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

“I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

I have a circle of cousins that I am close to. Every so often we’ll have a “Cousins Night.” We anticipate it. We prepare for it. In the days leading up to Cousins Night, our cousin messenger thread fills with plans of what we will do and, more importantly, what we will eat. Then the day comes for our gathering and we are little kids who haven’t seen each other in years – when in reality it may have been a few weeks. We’re that excited! Then we settle into food, conversation, and an activity that matches our energy level in that moment – be it board games or Netflix or an epic Nerf gun battle. However, many times it is simply the conversations that keep us the most entertained. As adults we’ve talked about work or weddings or travel or children or our parents. At our most recent gathering, as the eldest,  I took a moment and looked over the whole room – overhearing bits of conversations and witnessing interactions. I reflected on how far we’ve all come in our lives and how each of us has helped one other get to where we are. In some ways we have paved the way for one another in the sharing of our experiences.

John is Jesus’ cousin. He, too, is anticipating Jesus’ arrival. But rather than prepare Jesus for the joys and challenges of life, John is preparing others for the joys and challenges of Jesus. John will step aside for Jesus to reveal to the world the goodness of God the Father. John paves the way for Jesus to enter into people’s lives. John calls others to make space in their lives for Jesus. And while Jesus may not be my cousin, I am asked to do the same thing. Why? Because Jesus is a part of my family, and I am a part of His by adoption through my baptism. All of us who are baptized are members of a spiritual family that is called to prepare the way for Jesus and one another. Because of our shared experience of Jesus we have the ability – and the responsibility – to invite others to encounter and know Jesus, through whom we know God our Father. My cousins and I share our family and life experiences so that our family story continues – generation after generation. The same must be said of the story of our spiritual family, God’s story. God created each of us to play a specific role in our family, biological and spiritual, so that we can champion – and sometimes challenge – each other to live and love well. I recall an Advent long ago where one of my cousins, then a child, was taught and prayed: “Come, Lord Jesus! Come be born in our hearts!” In this season of anticipation and waiting, let us help one another open the space for Jesus to come and transform our hearts and our world. Let us prepare the way!




Aurea Sadi

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