Second Sunday of Advent - Cycle C
Sacred Scriptures

Baruch 5:1-9
Psalm 126
Philippians 1:4-6, 8-11
Luke 3:1-6
"...prepare the way of the Lord!"               -Isaiah
The proclaimed word from Sacred Scripture this weekend starts by inviting us to stop wallowing in self-pity.  The Prophet tells us that we need to take off the cloak of mourning and to put on the splendor of the glory of God forever.  We need to stop looking at the negative aspects of our lives and look at what is going right.  We need to focus less on what God has not done for us and rejoice in the many blessings we have received.  We are called to stop trying to find fault, to stop being critical of God and others, and to start being part of God's solution rather than our problems.  Being part of God's solution, aiding in the good work begun in us and bringing it to completion, is our call as those who are baptized, and as those who serve; as members of the Church, the Body of Christ.

We are called to model John the Baptist.  John served as one who prepared others to receive the Lord.  John had a healthy self-identity.  Whenever people asked him who he was, he simply told that that he is "a voice."  He does not claim to be a prophet of old come back from the dead or the long awaited Messiah.  Rather, John allows God to use who he is for God's glory.  John does not try to impress others or put up a facade.  John is the humble voice through which the way of the Word - the Messiah - is prepared.  John is not the Word.  He is the voice preparing us to receive Jesus Christ. 

We, too, must allow God to use who we are for God's glory.  We must look at ourselves and discover who we are.  A healthy self-knowledge is key in encountering God and others in intimate relationships in which we share the gift of ourselves.  How can we share ourselves with God or give ourselves to God's service if we do not even know who we are?  How can we give what we do not know?

As the light from our Advent wreath grows brighter, may Christ illuminate us.  May our Lord take us where we need to go in life.  May we hear the call to serve as "a voice" for the Word as priests, as lay pastoral ministers, as deacons, as religious and as married people so that together with John the Baptist we may cry out in how we live our lives, "prepare the way of the Lord!"
Peace,
Shaun Lowery
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