Two weeks ago I was home for Thanksgiving break and I knew that once I returned to school that I only had two weeks of school left in the semester. The rule for us is that we can leave for our break following our final test. Therefore I looked ahead at my schedule and I saw that I could leave on Tuesday instead of Friday if I made the proper preparations with my school work. The preparations that I made was well worth it in the end because I was able to get my three papers out of the way before Tuesday. As I got into my car that day following the community Mass I had a lot to rejoice about.
During the Christmas season we are constantly reminded of the preparations that we need to make if we will be ready for Christmas. You know that we are in the Holiday Season when you cannot sit down at a restaurant or shop in a store and not be reminded that they have gift cards that can be purchased. Only a few days ago I was eating at Applebees and it was one of the first things out of the waitress' mouth. With two weeks to go until Christmas commercials are reminding us of layaway deals and sales to remind us that we still have a lot to take care of before Christmas gets here. People are spending time feeling out Christmas cards and checking names off of their list as they prepare for December 25th. There is a lot of preparations that needs to be done as we get closer and closer to this day, but this preparation needs to also happen in our faith journey.
It is during the season of Advent that a voice calls out "Make straight the way of the Lord." Today we celebrate Gaudate Sunday which is Latin for the english word rejoice. Throughout these readings we are called to rejoice. The first word out of Saint Paul in today's second reading was to rejoice. The community in today's first reading from Isaiah were also instructed that they need to rejoice. Saint John the Baptist had reason to rejoice because he was sent to proclaim the coming of Christ and Christ had finally arrived. The Church rejoices today as we prepare for the coming of Christ on December 25th which is only two weeks away. Keeping in mind that we have only two weeks before the season of Advent comes to a close we must ask ourselves what preparations need to be taken care of in order for us to rejoice with Christ on Christmas Day because we were able to "make straight the way of the Lord."
Saint John the Baptist's voice cries out to us today from the desert. This voice comes to us instructing us that we need to do everything possible to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord. It is impossible to prepare for this coming if we do not take the time out of our day to enter into the desert. The desert is the place that the Israelites walked through as they headed towards the promised land and is where Christ spent 40 days prior to entering into his public ministry. The desert is a place to go for prayer and for preparation. Of course nobody has forty days to enter into nonstop prayer, but we cannot make the excuse that we do not have the time for prayer. Prayer is essential for our preparation for the coming of the Lord. If we fail to take time out of the day for prayer how can we hope to rejoice this day that Christ's birth inside of a manger is drawing closer each and every day?
We should make every preparation possible for the coming of the light of Christ. This light desires to come into our hearts and homes and to dwell with each of us. Are will willing to accept the light of Christ into our hearts and homes or are we content with where we find ourselves today? If we are ready to answer this challenge to prepare the way of the Lord we will be able to rejoice here today and more importantly to rejoice during this Christmas season that the Son of God came to dwell with each and every one of us. Through our preparation this light of joy will become familiar to each of us instead of us not knowing that it is currently here with us.
Let us each rejoice with the community of Isaiah. Let us rejoice that Christ has come into the world and conquered sin and death. May we join in the preparation of this Advent season, so that we may make peace and justice spring up inside of our lives and homes. Peace and justice will indeed spring up inside of our lives and homes if we allow the light of Christ to enter into our lives. No matter what struggle or heartache that we currently feel Christ is knocking on our doors wanting to enter into our lives.
The problem we have is that this world is a loud place that has a lot of things to do. We have work, we have to study, we have sports, we have Christmas parties, and Christmas shopping to do and each of these things can get in the way of our preparation. May we no longer neglect God in our lives and may we give religion more priority within our lives. We cannot have this happen over night, but we must make proper preparations, so that we will have room for Christ to enter through the doors of our lives. With Christ present here with us we have every reason in the world to rejoice.
Therefore my brothers and sisters in Christ may we rejoice at the coming of Christ. Through this rejoicing we will prepare our hearts and homes for this great gift. Through this preparation we will proclaim: "Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed." We should rejoice today because our souls will indeed be healed if we can trust in the light of Christ that desires to dwell with each and every one of us.
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