ADVENT: GROWING INTO THE FULLNESS OF A LIFE WORTH LIVING

“The word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the desert.
John went throughout the whole region of the Jordan,
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.’” Luke 3:2-4

Take some time this week to think about John the Baptist who may have lived over 2,000 years ago, but demonstrates a lot of qualities many of us living today would do well to emulate. We may be farther along on our life paths, but it is never too late for personal conversions when opportunities open up to us.

John was the son of a priest and probably was expected to be a priest, himself, but he followed a “call” to be a prophet. (There had not been a prophet in hundreds of years!) He chose to live in the desert, and there he discovered a whole lot about himself and about his life and purpose. Perhaps we can find some sort of desert space right here, an Advent place where we can let ourselves be alone with ourselves and, perhaps, like John, meet God and ourselves – our true selves – there. That Advent place could be whenever we are alone, even in the midst of a crowd, or alone in a car, on a train or on a store check-out line. Just be still and know that God is God.

MATURING ACCORDING TO GOD’S PLAN FOR ME

One of the best Christmas gifts we can give ourselves, and which overflows into the lives of others, is to have, in spite of past triumphs and failures, a sense of satisfaction with the road we are walking along now. Would that, like John, we could see ourselves choosing to be true to what we say we believe, even when it is out of sync with what those around us expect or want of us or for us. What John saw of himself and his world (really God’s world) made him strong, focused, courageous and willing to commit himself to God’s wisdom pouring into his inner self as he walked in the desert. Isn’t that what we want and are really in search of?

That desert experience readied John to recognize the Messiah  – a Messiah so different from the one he was expecting to come. That desert experience transformed him into a new John, a man with conviction, courage, persistence and just the right amount of self-esteem to commit himself to being a one-of-a-kind person, a useful, but not overshadowing figure, preparing the way for whatever kind of Messiah God would send.

“. . . The word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the desert.”

May “the word of God come to us in the deserts we place ourselves in as we live these desert-like, waiting days of Advent. We await Christ’s coming anew into our hearts today and at Christmas, and in the days beyond Christmas, to when we meet God face to face and to God’s Second Coming.

Can there be any greater joy or fulfillment in this life than knowing that God is pleased with our progress, and that we, too, are pleased with it, and that God sees that we are growing into the fullness of the humanity with which God has gifted us?

Sister Loretta