Last week, the general theme of our Liturgy of the Word, was to ‘stay awake’, and to be prepared for the coming of Our Lord at all times, because we do not know the day or the hour when he will come.
This week, preparation for Christmas, will be taking place in many homes across the country. Much of the preparation which takes place around this time of the month, is for the commercialised side of Christmas. And there is nothing wrong with that, as long as we remember the real reason we celebrate Christmas, and the true message that it brings.
To be totally at peace this Christmas, means that we are to prepare ourselves spiritually for Christ’s coming. When we experience true peace, we will also experience true joy, and we will be filled with a deep sense of hope in our Lord.
In our First reading today, Isaiah presents us with a wonderful imagery of ‘peace’. Can you imagine a wolf lying down with a lamb; a panther lying down with a kid; an infant playing over a cobra’s hole? That peace will come, when Isaiah’s prophecy of a future King, is much more than a descendent of King David. That King, is Christ the Messiah, who is the source and the restorer of peace.
There are many reasons why we may not be a peace with one another. Perhaps we have forgotten that we belong to one another; maybe we are constantly anxious and stressed about many things in life, that we become selfish and aggressive-like to others. Our Gospel reading today, presents us with the familiar figure of John the Baptist. John tells us that we are to “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand”. Those people who came to the river Jordan to be baptised by John, did so because they recognised that they were sinners.
When the Pharisees and Sadducees come to John for baptism, he calls them a “Brood of vipers”. That is because John, like Jesus who would follow him, saw the Pharisees and Sadducees as opposing, rather than supporting his message.
John’s message might leave us a bit discouraged, as his baptism with water can only bring us so far. That is why he tells us that the one who will follow him “will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire”. In our First reading, Isaiah speaks of the Holy Spirit as the ‘spirit of the Lord’, and describes what we refer to as the ‘gifts of the Holy Spirit’ that the Lord will bring. He mentions some of those gifts: wisdom; insight; counsel; power; knowledge, and fear of the Lord.
Advent, is a time for us to spiritually prepare ourselves for the coming of the Lord at Christmas. In today’s Gospel, John the Baptist calls on us to “Repent”. So we might want to consider receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation, as part of our preparation for Christmas. This weekend, in light of the readings we have heard in our Liturgy of the Word, let’s also pray that when Jesus does come to us at Christmas, we may experience those wonderful gifts of joy, hope, and peace!