2nd Sunday of Advent: John the Baptist John the Baptist, a great figure missing in commercially crowded preparation and celebrations of Christmas. Christmas has become crowded. “Slowly as the nativity scenes start to appear here and there, we have the familiar figures of Mary and Joseph, of course, but also the shepherds, cattle, the wise men, and a half-dozen farm animals. It would be wonderful if the joy and peace of Christmas came with putting up with decorations, turning on a Christmas CD and stringing out the lights. Plug it all in and Christmas happens.” But Christmas that happens so easily disappears just as easily. That is why we need John the Baptist. We do not receive many Christmas cards with John the Baptist’s words about repentance on them. And there aren’t many Christmas jingles about John the Baptist. Yet this important prophet remind us that we should be getting ready not just for another holiday season but to renew our lives in the power of Christ by getting rid of the obstacles that block our full experience of the Lord’s grace and power in our lives. He prepares us not for temporal seasonal cheer but for deep joy in the Lord that comes from experiencing release from sin and new life in Christ. With John the Baptist, Christmas will be not just a holiday season but a healing season as well. For this Christmas, listen to the voice of John Baptist. Let it penetrate your being and send him to others too. He remind us that the work of Christ is still unfinished. Christmas is thus not a make-believe. I personally need conversion. May the voice of todays John Baptists (priests and other men and women of God) help us prepare not just for another holiday season, but most importantly for a deeper encounter with Jesus and the joy of Christmas will not disappear so easily.
Posted on: Sun, 07 Dec 2014 05:07:22 +0000
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