Deserts are known as being vast and barren places. When one looks out into a desert they usually do not see any vegetation, but instead only the sand that lays below. Deserts are known for being hot and for the fact that they usually do not get any rain which leads to this lack of vegetation that is found there. For these reasons deserts are not usually associated with life. They instead are associated with this barrenness that has overtaken that particular part of the world. In today's Gospel we encounter Saint John the Baptist, who came to the desert to preach a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. In other words he came into the lives of those who were barren to bring the message of new life into their hearts and souls.
Pope Benedict XVI instructs us concerning this passage: “Through the Gospel John the Baptist continues to speak down the centuries to each generation. His hard clear words bring health to us, the men and women of this day in which even the experience and perception of Christmas often, unfortunately, reflects materialist attitudes. The 'voice' of the great prophet asks us to prepare the way for the coming Lord in the deserts of today, internal and external deserts, thirsting for the water of life which is Christ."
This is what is at the heart of the Advent season of which we find ourself currently in the midst of the second week of. Advent is not about arriving at Christmas as if we were left barren and lacking the water of life that flows to us from Christ. Instead Advent is about discovering this water of life and inviting it to further penetrate into our own life. In this manner we will not arrive at Christmas as if we were left barren and dead in our faith, but instead we will arrive there alive and well. If we waste away the days that are left inside of this season, as if they were only mundane days, we can never expect to discover this change in our life. Saint John the Baptist did not come onto the scene telling people to take their time to convert to Christ, but instead he preached to them a message of great urgency. This message that Saint John the Baptist has extended to us today is indeed a very urgent message. May we heed his words in order that new life may indeed come into all the barren places that currently exist in our life.
Therefore today we should ask ourself where it is that our life has become a vast and barren desert that is in need of the water of life that only Christ can usher into our life. Maybe we realize that our practice of faith has grown stale over the years to where in all truth it is currently found dead. Possibly, our life is filled with so many distractions ranging from television, games, or the internet to the point where we never actually, if we are honest with ourself, make TIME for prayer. If we do not make prayer a priority in our life we cannot claim that we are found alive in our practice of faith because in all actually we are dead. As Catholics we must also ask what role the Holy Eucharist plays in our life. So many come forward to receive our Lord present in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar, but do not take the time to fathom the great fact that they are not receiving a symbol, but instead God Himself found in this most wondrous Sacrament. The Eucharist is the well spring of life and therefore we should center our life around it instead of around the many distractions that exist inside of the world that ultimately leave us barren.
May Advent not become just another day and season for us. Instead may we see our life that has grown vast and barren, and present what is found here to Christ who is the author of all life. Through our merits the vastness of a desert can never be healed, but through the grace that is freely given from God this can and will be conquered. May we never lost hope or allow ourself to grow tired in our practice of faith. Indeed the path that leads us towards Bethlehem is vast and long, but so to was the path that led our Lord towards Calvary. It is important that we endure these paths because they both lead us towards discovering Christ for who He truly is. Both of these paths do not leave us to be found barren and dead, but instead they usher us into the true meaning of life that is free from all the distractions that impede us from our relationship with Christ. Therefore today may we make straight the path for the Lord instead of so often following those paths that ultimately leave us lost, barren, and dead in our practice of faith.
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