The focus of the readings during the first two Sundays in Advent was preparing the way of the Lord, about promises being fulfilled, and the hungers of the human heart being met by the coming of God. We are told by the readings from the prophets that God will make us a holy people. We are told to take off our clothing of sorry and put on robes of integrity and rejoicing. Finally, these prophets tell us to rejoice and shout aloud with gladness because the Lord our God is in our midst!
St Paul weekly admonishes us to be attentive to the needs of others, to live the life God has called us to live, to let our love for one another increase, and to be happy and evidence tolerance in our lives.
Thusfar, the gospels of the first two weeks of Advent have told us to stay awake, to be watchful, not to let our hearts be “coarsened” by the cares of the world. And John the Baptist admonishes us to prepare the way of the Lord – to make every valley filled, every mountain level, and every crooked way straight. Then, “all mankind shall see the saving power of God.”
Sound good?
Just one thing is missing. How do we do that? And that question is both asked and answered in the Gospel of this Third Week of Advent. We participate in this revelation of God, this incarnation of the divine, this salvific event by caring for the poor, the marginalized, the outcasts, the socially and economically less fortunate than we.
Great, got it! …………Er, ah, how do we do that?
If you have more clothes and food than you need, John tells us, share with someone who does not have enough clothes and food. Conduct your business affairs honestly. Whatever your job, do a good days work, act with integrity, stop complaining. In short, be generous, fair, and grateful. Wonderfully simple, not a lot of ecclesiastical hoops to jump through, no magic potions, incantations, and special rituals, just take care of the poor, be fair in all your dealings with others, do your job with integrity.
How did it all get so complicated? We went from this simple message – one that Jesus reiterated and expanded (see the Beatitudes) – to having huge organizations, multiple layers of leadership, dogmas that oppress, separate, and shame, and a need to be right and have THE truth.
Care for the poor, be fair in all your interactions with others, do your calling with integrity. That’s the core of it. Perhaps to do this genuinely and consistently is a lot harder than all the other “hoopla” I just mentioned. Perhaps preoccupation with being right, with protecting and sustaining our organizations conveniently distracts us from the simple yet very challenging work of the gospel. Over 2000 references to the poor in the scriptures! That blows doors off the air time many of our “hot topics” of today ever got – or deserved for that matter.
Put your shovels, bulldozers, road graders, blasting caps, and other construction materials away. It’s not about real valleys, mountains, and crooked roads. It’s about the various “obstacles” in our human hearts that keep us from truly answering the call of the poor and thus “preparing and making known the way of the Lord.” Those are the real areas of focus. Until we level the hills of apathy, fill in the valleys of unnecessary consumerism and selfishness, and straighten our crooked notions about what will make us happy, safe, and content, the power and presence of God and God’s kingdom will be missed.
The kingdom is among us! God is among us! It’s not about some day in the distant future! But we won’t notice, and others won’t notice either until we head the simple call of the scriptures. Clearing the way within is the answer.
The well known Trappist Monk Thomas Merton said it best when he reminded us that “Advent is the beginning of the end of all in us that is not yet Christ.”
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