Crying Out in the Desert by Rev. Paul Berghout (@FatherPB)

Crying Out in the Desert by Rev. Paul Berghout (@FatherPB)

Second Sunday of Advent

Piety

For God has commanded that every lofty mountain be made low, and that the age-old depths and gorges be filled to level ground, that Israel may advance secure in the glory of God. The forests and every fragrant kind of tree have overshadowed Israel at God’s command; for God is leading Israel in joy by the light of his glory, with his mercy and justice for company. Baruch 5:7-9

John went throughout the whole region of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, 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)

Study

Father Joseph Donders who lives in Washington DC tells an interesting story about going to the airport to pick up a friend who was coming to visit him from Africa. It was a cold, winter day and all the trees were bare except for a few firs and pines. This was the first time his friend ever left his home country in Africa. As he looked at the trees he said, “I had heard about this, but I did not realize things were so bad.” Not knowing what his African friend was talking about, Fr. Donders asked, “What do you mean?” His friend said he heard about air pollution in America and its effect on trees, “but,” he said, “I never thought it was bad as this with all those trees dead!”

“The word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the desert.” Kind of a barren place, like the bare trees this time of year, but the simple sparseness is a place of insight, free of distractions.

In this spiritual place free of distractions, we can ask ourselves: Where am I most attentive to the voice of God? What distracts me from the Word of God?

John was proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins— What message is God asking me to share through my words and actions? From what sins do I need to repent of?

The baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins— this is not, of course, the Christian sacrament of baptism but a prophetic symbolic action to renew the commitment to the covenant life of right living, so the Israelites did this by dunking themselves in the Jordan River as a sign of their re-commitment.

It can be summarized by the winding roads that shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth— what people, places, or things entice me to veer away from God’s path?

What needs straightening out in my life? How can I help ease the path of others?

The unsubdued territories of a person’s heart always make trouble. Consider this story: Two medieval barons who lived near the Rhine River. Between them existed a terrible feud. One time, the stronger knight swept down upon his enemy and utterly wrecked his castle, conquered his retainers and murdered all of the family—save one, a little boy.

This little, innocent lad he carried away with him to his castle. The boy grew and one time a very old man told him about the ancient feud and of the frightful outrages which his father had suffered at the hands of him in whose castle he now lived.

In that hour the lad registered a vow to avenge his father’s house and to humiliate his newly discovered enemy. Years wore on, the bold and bloody baron had almost forgotten the incident, but the lad, now a man, had not. He had been plotting with powerful men outside the castle. One dark and stormy night the old baron was making merry in his great hall, the fires burned bright and the Rhenish wine flowed freely.

When the hilarity was at its height, the enemy within the gates signaled to the enemy without. The drawbridge rattled over the moat. The mailed soldiers entered the castle and that night the baron perished, and his estates passed to his enemies.

The moral of the story:

If there lurks one unsubdued appetite, one unconquered lust, one false idea within my heart, all the fair estate of my life lies in jeopardy.

Mr. Stopford Brooke tells of the man who carried a venomous pet viper always with him— one day it bit him to his death. Once the pet tiger tastes blood; one day the wistful python feels its power. What does it all plainly teach? That the enemy must be completely destroyed, the viper killed, the tiger caged, the python crushed while young, the evil desire smothered.

Action

There must be no compromise. John the Baptist expressed this idea in his picture of the straight path. No devious way, no turnings to the enticing by deviations to the right or to the left.

John the Baptist is introduced to us within his geopolitical framework involving the Roman emperor and his client states, i.e.

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar,

when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea,

and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee,

and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region

of Ituraea and Trachonitis,

and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene,

during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas,

the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the desert. Luke 3:1-2

The Word of the Lord comes to us still even now in our current political climate.

The First Reading is a response to the salvation that is at hand spoken by the prophet Baruch who lived during the Babylonian exile over 500 before Christ.

The time of mourning of being taken into exile by the enemy is over. Now, the prophet is saying that the light of salvation is shone for all nations. Be a light to them! Be a messenger of hope. Make straight his paths!

It can be summarized by the winding roads that shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth— what people, places, or things entice me to veer away from God’s path?

What needs straightening out in my life? How can I help ease the path of others?