SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT

In the Wilderness, make a path for the Lord

Make a way in the Desert. Isaiah in our first reading The alleluia Verse. John the Baptist in the Gospel all tell us the same message,

A Isaiah even gives us the method, which George Handel has made very famous through his composition of The Messiah. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain shall be laid low. As the plane brought me to Cebu for the first time this week, I saw the beautiful valleys and the breath taking mountains and said surely Isaiah is not referring to this. Then I came into the airport and took a taxi which make a winding curve from Lapu-Lapu to get to the mainland and I said this path can certainly be made straight.



B However, John the Baptist was not speaking of Roadways and streets in Cebu. They were speaking of the Wilderness of the Human being. Through Human history we have been walking, we have been running, we have been and jumping in an erratic manner. How do we straighten a rough road in the wilderness which has been happening from the beginning of Creation?

• Adam and Eve disobeyed
• Noah lived in a land of sinners, he himself was a drunk.
• Moses doubted the Lord even after the Lord par ted the sea for the Israelites to cross.
• King David was an adulterer, a murderer and an arrogant man.

God chose these to be leaders of the People of Israel.  There was no Road Map, these leaders would be the straightened PATH to lead Israel into the Promised land.

But the Mess of human wilderness is not limited to the Old Testament, it continues in out own time, through the ages till today.

We have had wars and turbulence. Today our history is stained by

• The fights of the Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda.
• The quarrels between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland
• The Palestinians and Jews in the Middle East.
• The wars in Iraq, Somalia, Sudan to mention a few places.
• Certain parts of the Islands in the South of the Philippines.

Does God walk with you when you are in “rugged country”? How does the shepherd image level out the ruggedness in your life?

• In the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord
• Make straight a highway to the Lord.

Yes there are a lot of rough roads to be straightened in the Wilderness of Human History. o  from where do we start?
A little boy was getting bored playing alone in the house. So kept on saying over and over again, “Daddy, I am bored. What to do?” Finally in order to keep him quiet, the father took a large map, and tore it in pieces. He said to his son, “Study the World, and when you can put the countries in their right order, I will take you out for a milkshake.” That should keep him quiet for a couple of hours said the father to himself.  However, in fifteen minutes the boy came back and said, “Daddy I am done. And I got the countries in correct order.” Impossible said the father, you could not do it so quickly. How did you do it?

Well, Dad when I saw you tearing the map into pieces, I noticed there was a picture of a man at the back of the map. Once I put the man together, I knew I had the whole world put correctly.  Isn’t it true, we are trying to sort out the problems of the world. Perhaps we should start with the problems of a person’s heart, and the problems of the world will sort themselves out.
 
1. One of the ways of making a PATH STRAIGHT IN THE WILDERNESS  is a realisation that life is not fair. Some times things will go well for us when we do not deserve it, and sometimes things will crash. Sometimes we can sort out the mess, at other times, we have to live with it.  Some writers have called this the acceptance of the Cross in our daily lives.  Once we accept it, you will find that it gives us a sense of balance, it keeps things stable.

St. Francis de Sales tells the story of the custom in country districts, he visited. He noticed a farm servant going across the farmyard to draw water from the well. He also noticed that when she lifted the bucket which was filled to the brim with water, she put a piece of wood in it, before carrying it back to the house. Why do you do that Francis de Sales asked the girl.
She looked at him surprised and said, Why! To keep the water steady, to keep it from spilling.
So writing t o his friend the bishop he said, “When your heart is distressed and agitated, put the CROSS in the centre to keep it steady.”

2. Another means is the encounter with God that Jesus himself left us in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Sometimes it has become a formality in our lives. We approach the Sacrament the same way we go to the Supermarket in Mango Square Mall. We have a list in our hands, this is what we require, we buy it, we walk out, until the next time. We do not change, we do not feel any different except lighter in our purses or wallets. And yet, we can look at why we commit certain sins, what are secular values that rule our lives.

We can get very discouraged when we try to change and reform our lives and nothing seems to happen. In our second reading : letter from Peter, the Apostle tells us to work patiently. We want things to happen and happen immediately. We live in a fast food generation, instant coffee, instant tea, microwave and heat the food. But Peter tells us that God has plenty of time. For God a 1000 years are like a day. God has endless patience with us, and God can wait for us to return and come back to God.

God will also keep us his promise. I am working in the office that used to belong to Fr. Borromeo. And on his desk is a card of a tower in the wilderness. And it says, “Sometimes I wonder if anyone is listening up there!”  This is the time for faithfulness, this is the time for putting the cross at the centre of our lives, this is the time for the sacrament of reconciliation – getting at the root cause of our illness, our lethargy.

To sum up:

1. God wants us to be active in our salvation: Prepare a path for the Lord.
2. However, God is the one who takes the initiative and God has both the knowledge and the power to save us – especially when we are heading straight to destruction because of our selfishness and inconsiderateness.
3. All we have to do is be faithful, be steadfast in our faith with that certain knowledge that God can and will keep the promises made to us.