At this time of the year, many of us spend time decorating the house, buying presents and preparing special holiday foods. We prepare for Christmas like no other feast in the year. But we are also involved in preparations for many different things and these preparations become an important part in our lives. In preparing for a test, we study the pertinent information. In preparing for a voyage, we pack clothing and articles we think will be necessary for the trip. In preparing for a presentation for work, we organize data and ideas and prepare charts or brochures. In preparing for a wedding or other celebration, we rent halls, hire caterers and bands, send out invitations and buy new clothes. In preparing for a new child, we paint a nursery, buy a car-seat, a crib, diapers and toys.

We always seem to be preparing for something. Most of our work of preparation is physical activity of some type. The preparation mentioned in today’s Gospel is both a physical and spiritual action. John the Baptist echoes the words of the prophet, Isaiah, “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.” Isaiah gets even more descriptive as he states that our preparations include filling in every valley and bringing down the mountains, very tough physical work for a people with no power tools.

So how do we prepare the way of the Lord? In physical ways, we prepare the way by works of charity and justice; when we feed the hungry and take care of the needs of those around us, when we visit the sick and act with kindness to the elderly, when we teach and support our children and when we speak well of our neighbor. In spiritual ways, we prepare the way through prayer and reflection; when we join the Church in its action of praise at Mass and in our own private devotions. We prepare ourselves spiritually through the attitude with which we enact every other action of our day, an attitude of humility and peace. The way is often difficult to prepare but we have many workers.

May this season of preparation bless you and your families with the Lord’s peace.

We have all had the experience of waiting. Whether it be at the supermarket, in the doctor’s office or on the freeway; whether for a check in the mail or a proposal or a vacation, for a child or spouse or friend, we have all sat, stood, paced, fidgeted, watched the clock or calendar, the front door or phone waiting. It would not be in error to say that most of us spend a large portion of our lives waiting.

Waiting can be frustrating, annoying, even infuriating but the way in which we wait for things says a great deal about the person we are. Think of the last time you waited in line for something. What did you do or say? How did the waiting affect your mood or your interaction with the people around you? 

This Sunday, we begin the Season of Advent, the liturgical season of watching and waiting. We begin in an unusual way this year by welcoming our new Missal in the English speaking world (for which we have been waiting for about 20 years). But like every Advent, the focus is on waiting. We don’t jump right to Christmas, department store decorations notwithstanding. There is value in waiting. A child is not born the day after conception. There is value in that time in the womb, not just for the growth and development of the child but for the bonding that occurs between parents and their new child. The final exam is not given on the first day of class. The teacher and students need to cover the course material so that the final can have meaning. There is always a value in waiting, even if it is sometimes difficult to understand.

Our focus word for the four weeks beginning last week is the word “Peace”. Peace is the object of patient waiting. God could have sent Jesus to save humankind the day after they were kicked out of Eden. But God knew that we would not understand the Peace he means for us unless we learned to wait. And so, we celebrate this season of waiting, hoping that the Peace of Christ might overwhelm the violence and disparity that we experience around us.

The line starts here. May our waiting bring us Peace.