God on the Move

The shortest path between two points is a straight line – that is, unless an obstacle is put in the way. For example, a highway is going to get you where you want to go much faster than a country road. But if a pileup happens, that thoroughfare can quickly become a bottleneck, or worse. Just a few weeks ago, I saw an accident on the interstate that led to a complete standstill for miles and miles in the opposite direction. No one could get through because the path was obstructed.

In today’s first reading, Isaiah prophesies to Israel that God is preparing to come to rescue his people, and so they should build a highway in the desert to make straight his path. This text dates from the end of the Babylonian captivity, that period about six hundred years before the birth of Christ when much of Israel had been forced into exile to live under the rule of a foreign kingdom. It was a devastating experience. However, after some seventy years, the Babylonians were themselves defeated by the Persians. Sorrow turned into joy, as the people were permitted to return to Israel. We hear that elation in the reading today, when Isaiah prophesies that God himself will come through the desert to accompany his people back to their native land. In exuberance, he says, “Prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight… a highway for our God!” The Lord comes to bring comfort and peace.

In many ways, this is the central message of Advent, and sometimes I think we lose sight of it. Our preparations are important, and we should make straight the paths of the Lord. But we do so not because we are the ones striving to reach him, or because we must labor to be in his presence. No, God is the one who is on the move! John the Baptist, in the Gospel today, purposefully echoes the words of Isaiah to announce the Lord’s coming – not his coming through the desert to bring his people out of exile, but his coming in the flesh, into time and history to redeem all the world from sin and death. Jesus is the Savior and he seeks to come to us anew, in this season and every season, with the salvation we so desperately need.

It’s important, therefore, that we consider our Advent preparations not so much in terms of the things that we are doing for God – as if we are doing him a favor – and more in terms of how we need to get out of his way. What spiritual blockage is obstructing his path? What crooked twists and turns need to be straightened out for him to deliver what you need? Often, it seems, we complain about not being able to find God in what is happening in our lives, in feeling distant from him. But do we ask ourselves in what ways we are throwing up roadblocks to his coming? Are we doing something to hinder his coming? We have nothing to fear except the things we cling to in lieu of his comfort and peace. 

Desert Road (c. 1940) by Jean Mannheim

So, my friends, how will you prepare the way of the Lord in these next few weeks? Perhaps you will do it by fasting from a favorite food or from TV or social media so that you have more time for prayer or reading Scripture. Or perhaps you will want to get to the sacrament of reconciliation, so that you permit God to unburden you of your sorrows and sins to experience anew his healing and mercy. Or perhaps it will be by sharing more of what you have with those who are in need, especially the poor and the stranger, so that the obstacles of pride and selfishness will be removed from you heart. Let the Lord speak to you in this season; take time to listen to him! In whatever he says, he wants to bring you his comfort and peace, so don’t be afraid to do what it takes to build a highway for his coming – not out of sluggish compliance but with exuberance and joy.

Even in this Mass, Jesus our Savior comes to bring us his salvation. May we prepare the way of the Lord to receive him in this Eucharist so that by his strength we may make straight his paths in all facets of our lives.