Homily for 23 Dec 2015

23 Dec 2015

Here at the end of Advent we’re sort of back where we started: with John the Baptist.  A few weeks ago, we heard those words: “Prepare the way of the Lord.”  Prepare the way by getting rid of all those mountains of things that distract us from seeing what God is doing.  That was the challenge: to put more weight on what God thinks rather than on what others think. 

Of course, John’s father, Zechariah, had a hard lesson to learn about doing that.  After all, he was made mute until he could put God’s will ahead of his own thinking and the traditions of his people.  He prepared the way of the Lord, and so he was finally able to say most definitely that his son would be called John; because that’s what God wanted.  He didn’t care what others thought, even though they wanted the baby to be named something else.  All that mattered was being true to God, and seeing that God was trying to do something through John.

And so, here at the end of Advent, with the birth of John and the coming celebration of the birth of Jesus, it’s a good time to ask: Have I prepared the way of the Lord?  Have I made some extra room in my soul for Christ to come in?  Have I prepared myself to be more at peace, more joyful, and merciful?  If not, don’t worry, there’s still time.

Even in the midst of Christmas (and Lent and Easter, and throughout our whole lives) we’re always preparing the way; we’re always opening our minds and hearts to let him in.  We’re always trying to put more weight on what God thinks rather than on what others think.  The spirit of Advent continues . . . we’ll always be “preparing the way.”  It doesn’t stop with Christmas.