“Are you the one who is to come?”
How did St. John prepare the way for the Savior? During this time of Advent, we are called to prepare our hearts for Jesus. St. John the Baptist calls for us to prepare by an act of repentance and conversion. “By his sermons on penance, and by his own penitential life He endeavored to move the hearts of the Jews, that by amending their lives, they might prepare to receive the grace of the Messiah, for God will not come with His grace into our hearts if we do not prepare His way by true repentance.” [1]
How do we feel/what should we do when a visitor comes to our home? When a visitor is coming we are full of joy and we prepare for the visit. If we are filled with joy and prepare for earthly visitors, how much more should we be full of joy and prepare for our Divine visitor? The third Sunday of Advent is named by the Church, “Guadete” Sunday. Guadete is Latin for ‘Rejoice!’ This comes from the text of the Entrance Antiphon. Saint Paul tells us, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice! Your kindness should be known to all. The Lord is near. Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God.” [2]
Why are we filled with joy? “The blind see, the lame walk, the sinful are cleansed, the deaf hear.” We welcome our divine guest as Saint Ambrose suggests in the spiritual reading, “He enters by the open door; he has promised to come in, and he cannot deceive. Embrace him, the one you have sought; turn to him, and be enlightened; hold him fast, ask him not to go in haste, beg him not to leave you.” Saint Paul says, “The Lord is near”. Advent is coming to a close and the Nativity of our Lord is at hand. “Thou art He that was to come, O Jesus! We look for no other. We were blind, Thou hast enlightened us; we were lame, Thou hast made us walk; the leprosy of sin disfigured us, Thou has cleansed us; we were deaf to Thy words, Thou hast given us life again; we were poor and had none to care for us, Thou hast come to us with every aid and consolation. These have been, and will again be, the blessing of Thy visit to our souls, O Jesus! A visit, silent but wonderful in its work; which flesh and blood cannot understand, but which faithful hearts feel is granted to them.” [3]
For the soul that understands what Christ can and will do, there is great joy that the Lord is near and, thus there is no anxiety. This soul awaits the Lord in prayer, petition, and thanksgiving. For the soul that does not understand who Christ is or what Christ has to offer, there is no joy. Either this soul is lukewarm and oblivious to the Lord, thus our divine visitor is not welcomed; or this soul is frightened and unprepared for the Lord, thus he is full of anxiety.
How do we prepare for our divine guest? When we have visitors in our homes, we usually have help from friends and family to clean, prepare food, etc. When we prepare for Jesus, we have the help of His Blessed Mother and Saint John the Baptist. Saint Zechariah says that his son, John the Baptist will give “people knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins.” [4] We can prepare by repentance. We can make a daily examination of conscience, confess our sins, make an act of contrition, and live a life of penance. In other words, we can clean the house of our souls. When a mother asks a child to clean his or her room, she typically inspects the room after the cleaning to check and see if the room is really clean. The mother will look in all the areas (under the bed, behind the door, in the closet) where the child might store things. A child often doesn’t clean but simply moves things around or tosses things out of the way. The mother puts in order all the clutter and truly helps the child clean. In our interior home, our souls, many times we do not really clean out the sins and darkness, rather we just move them around or toss them out of the way. Our Blessed Mother looks into the remote closets of our heart, behind the doors, and under the beds. She searches every area in order to help us be clean and ready to receive her Son. Our Lady is the one who is best able to prepare us because she herself was more prepared than any other created being to welcome and embrace Jesus Christ. Saint John the Baptist gives us the mission, the charge and Our Lady gives us the grace-filled assistance necessary to be ready to welcome and embrace Our Lord.