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The mission and ministry of John the Baptist, the Precursor of the Lord, are announced to us today. John is the voice of one crying in the Wilderness; “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his path straight.” This herald of Christ preaches a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. If in our lives we have mountains and hills of Pride, arrogance, insolence or any kind of vice, then that needs to be made low, whatever is crooked in our lives making us to meander aimlessly must be straightened and rough edges to be made smooth if we wish the lord to come our way. We ought to fill up every Valley of emptiness in our souls by the gracious word of God and do his bidding.
Obviously, timely preparedness by all the faithful remains a fundamental attitude for this advent season.
Preparedness refers also to vigilance, readiness, alertness, watchfulness; all means living in such a consistently moral and obedient way that we are always ready to give an account to God of how we have lived. For us to watch and be alert, we must overcome negligence, lukewarmness, sleepiness, and carelessness.
The Christian who remains awake and prepared will have no panic or confusion because each day would have been an encounter with God in the simple and everyday living. Such a Christian lives frugally and is not easily surprised by the enemy (the evil one) because he is awake through prayer and mortification.
Our struggle to be vigilant and prepared may also be centred on the formation of character, constant practice of service towards those around us and being diligent in our daily general examination.
We ought to be prepared, like servants awaiting the return of their master. ‘The Day of the Lord will come like a thief’ (2Peter 3:10). Therefore ‘Since everything is coming to an end like this, you should be living holy and saintly lives while you wait and long for the Day of God to come’ (2Peter 3:11)
However, as the people of God, Christ warns us to be watchful. This is a necessary condition for us to obtain this kingdom which is our heritage. Therefore, as God’s people, we must live lives that bear good testimony to our Father. Like John, we have the duty to lead others to Christ.
May John’s call to repentance help us to repent of our sins and remove the barriers we create whether consciously or unconsciously that keep us from God’s loving embrace and seek God’s forgiveness as we prepare for the Lord’s coming, so that we can grow in holiness and devotion.
Come O Lord and dwell in us!
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