In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the desert.
John went throughout the whole region of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah:
A voice of one crying out in the desert:
“Prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight his paths.
Every valley shall be filled
and every mountain and hill shall be made low.
The winding roads shall be made straight,
and the rough ways made smooth,
and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”
REFLECTION:
"Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths."
When a pregnant woman is close to delivery something called a nesting instinct kicks in. A rush of estrogen makes us start compulsively cleaning the house, stocking for anything the baby might need, organizing so everything is in place, packing and repacking our hospital bag, planning post delivery actions, etc.
As Christmas approaches (only two more Sundays after this), we also have started "nesting" for this event: Decorated the house, started buying groceries for the Christmas dinner and parties, have been buying presents for our family, friends, coworkers and acquaintances, sent Christmas cards, etc. And that is not taking into account the myriad of school activities that also might be congesting our calendar.
In this hustle and bustle I need to remind myself of what are we really celebrating. I would ask people "what are we really doing?", "what is the reason we celebrate Christmas?". Undoubtedly I will get the answer: "to gather with the family", "to be together". This way of thinking only touches the surface, and most likely amplifies the stress of hosting a "perfect Christmas".
What about Jesus? What am I doing to receive Him? Let us pray to our Mother, the Virgin Mary, to help us properly prepare to receive her Son this Christmas. To help us focus on what God wants us to do and learn this Advent season.
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