In our Gospel we were instructed, that “every valley shall be filled: and every mountain and hill shall be brought low.”
These high mountains are symbolic of sin. It is through our arrogance, our opposition to the will of God, and our pride that we enter into such sin. Through such behavior we build high this barrier between us and God. Our pride and sin can only be brought low through repentance. Through repentance we return to God’s infinite mercy and allow this barrier to be removed from our midst.
As the prophet Isaiah further exclaims, “and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways plain.”
It is through the twists and turns of this life that we get caught up in such behavior. We are called upon to set our sight upon the prize and to move forward towards it. This is only possibly if we realize that God and the coming Kingdom of Heaven is that prize for which we seek. It is the pearl of great price which scripture tells us about. Through repentance we begin to set straight the path of our life as we come into this encounter with the Lord.
The prophet Isaiah concludes by stating, “all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”
This does not simply imply you and me, but all. We must set straight the path of our life, but we must also become convinced of the importance of the Gospel and sharing it with others. So often it seems that the Church is only willing to maintain and not be sent out to convert others to the truth of the Gospel. We can only be sent out as such missionaries if we are convinced of the importance of this relationship that we have been invited to enter into.
As we were told of John the Baptist, he was “a voice of one crying out in the wilderness.”
It was this voice which humbled himself for the coming of the Messiah. It was this voice which was convinced of all coming to know the importance of the coming of the Savior and preparing for His coming among us. We too must be this voice which boldly proclaims the coming of the Messiah as we are sent forth from here. Let us use the remainder of the Advent season to prepare the way for the one who comes among us at the Nativity, within the Eucharist, and He who will come again.
