READINGS:
First Reading: Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11
Responsorial Psalm: Ps. 89:9-10, 11-12, 13-14
Second Reading: 2 Peter 3:8-14
Gospel: Mark 1:1-8
FOCUS: Prepare the way of the Lord in your life through the sacrament of Reconciliation.
FUNCTION: Make an Advent examination of conscience in preparation for Christ’s coming.
Recently, I was able to see the new movie, The Way, starring Martin Sheen and his son, Emilio Estevez. Thomas Avery (Martin Sheen’s character) is an eye doctor who has a good practice, but is rather estranged from his son, Daniel Avery (Emilio Estevez’s character). They each have different views about the way they’re living their life. Daniel feels the need to go out and see the world, while Tom, his father, is content staying at home and working as an eye doctor.
Without giving away the rest of the movie (because I encourage you to go see it for yourself!), the movie follows the dynamics of Thomas’ journey (and that of his traveling companions) along the famous route known as “El Camino de Santiago,” aka, the Way of Saint James, a journey that often starts in the northern part of France and continues to the northern part of Spain, with the ultimate destination for many pilgrims being the Cathedral of Santiago de Compestela, where the body of Saint James the Apostle is believed to be buried. The film is a moving story of the human struggle to find healing and meaning in the midst of personal brokenness.
The Camino itself is a test of endurance and strength, as it often demands long hours and miles of hiking and is physically, emotionally, and spiritually demanding. It is a popular pilgrimage route that takes pilgrims through many interesting and scenic places in France and Spain. Pilgrims make the Camino de Santiago for many different reasons: some make the Camino for health reasons, some for religious reasons, and some for simply personal reasons. The Camino is challenging, but it is ultimately rewarding. And the challenge, no doubt, is what makes it rewarding.
What’s this talk about the Camino de Santiago got to do with the readings we heard this weekend? The answer is found in the Gospel we just heard, in which the words of the prophet Isaiah which are often put on the lips of Saint John the Baptist: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight His paths.” Obviously, Saint John the Baptist was a polarizing figure. On the one hand, he stood in the tradition of the great prophets of old, who announced the will and the words of the Lord. On the other hand, he made people very uncomfortable because he didn’t soften his message about the need for repentance. Of course, in St. John’s day, it was not “politically correct” to tell people that they were sinners in need of repentance. And, of course, it’s not “politically correct” to tell people the same message today.
So, I hope you’ll forgive me, but I don’t plan on being “politically correct” today either. My dear brothers and sisters, we, too, are sinners, and we, too, are in need of repentance. Saint John the Baptist had a powerful message: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight His paths.” How are we preparing the way of the Lord in our lives? Like the people in the new movie, The Way, we, too, are imperfect and broken, sinners in need of salvation.
Sometimes we fall into the seven deadly sins. We get prideful or vain and begin to think more of ourselves than we should. We can become envious of the good things that others have. We can easily get angry or wrathful over the things people say or do to us. Sometimes we can become gluttons in our desire for food or drink or other goods. We’re all too familiar with a greedy desire to acquire more and more material goods. We know how it feels to become apathetic and uncaring and generally slothful about the things we know we should be doing. And we’re familiar with the lust that rises up in us for certain persons or things. These are the seven deadly sins. And they’re called “deadly” because they lead to the death of the soul; they are like prisons out of which it can be difficult to escape, if not aided by God’s grace.
But with God’s grace, we can overcome these seven deadly sins with what we might call the seven lively virtues. We can overcome pride when we realize that there’s nothing that we have that we’ve not received, and thus grow in the virtue of humility. We can overcome envy when we learn to be kind to others and realize that God has given all of us many gifts and blessings. We can overcome anger or wrath by praying for and practicing the virtue of patience. We can overcome gluttony by practicing the lively virtue of temperance, and using all good things in moderation. We can overcome the apathy of sloth by being diligent about doing those things we know we should, even when we don’t feel like doing them. We can overcome the power of greed in our lives by donating to charity and giving to others when they come looking to us for help. And we can overcome the desire of lust by praying for and practicing chastity of body, mind, and heart in all of our relationships. It’s these seven lively virtues that are able to overcome and conquer the seven deadly sins.
So how can we prepare the way of the Lord in our lives? One thing we can do is go often to the sacrament of Reconciliation. Coming up next weekend, we’ll have our first communal penance service here at the Basilica at 4 p.m. It will be an excellent opportunity to overcome the seven deadly sins and to pray for an increase of the seven lively virtues. If we think, “Everything’s fine; I’m OK, you’re OK,” we’re deceiving ourselves! We need to be honest: Everything’s not fine, and I’m not OK, and you’re not OK. If everything was just “hunky dory,” we wouldn’t need a Savior and God wouldn’t have sent us one. But we do, and so God did: His name is Jesus Christ, and He is our Lord and Savior, who has come to save us from the sin in our hearts that threatens to eat us alive.
One of the best ways that we can “Prepare the way of the Lord” this Advent is to repent of our sins and ask God for His mercy and forgiveness. Going to the sacrament of Reconciliation is one of the best things we can do, and it helps us stay spiritually healthy and strong. It helps us grow in humility, which also helps us overcome the principle deadly sin of pride.
So do not be afraid! God’s mercy is waiting! His forgiveness is available for you to receive! He holds nothing back. His mercy is like a vast ocean, and His forgiveness reaches to the deepest depth and ascends to the highest height. His power and love knows no bounds. There is no sin He can’t forgive and no obstacle His grace can’t help you overcome.
All of us this Advent are traveling along the way, much like the pilgrims who travel on the Camino de Santiago. It’s a challenging way, but ultimately rewarding. And God has sent His messenger to us, crying out: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight His paths.”
So there’s only one question that remains: how will you prepare?
No comments:
Post a Comment