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When Life is a Journey Through the Desert

Pastor’s Column

2nd Sunday of Advent

December 10, 2017

  

“Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low.

The winding roads shall be made straight and the rough ways made smooth,

And all flesh shall see the salvation of God!”

Luke 3:5-6

The first and third readings today almost sound like a big construction project, and in a way, they are: valleys being filled in, mountains leveled, roads straightened, rough roads paved. What in the world is being described here? These readings sound either irrelevant or hopelessly idyllic, but wait a moment.... These are all METAPHORS. The speaker is John the Baptist calling out from the desert. Let’s explore these spiritual places of the heart.

The desert: a place of testing, a place of trial and deprivation, of hunger and stark beauty, life and death. God often speaks in the desert places of our lives, when we have been purified by suffering or have experienced a loss or a hunger for God.

Valleys and mountains: Highs and lows. On the mountain we see clearly; we are exhilarated; we have achieved something; our path seems clear; the road ahead joyous. A mountain also indicates that the road to the top may be arduous and steep, difficult to climb and full of dangers and difficulties.

A valley: During such times as these we are often sliding downhill or seem to be. The view is limited; the way gets darker; the path is unknown; we may be in sin or depression or suffering.... The valley often means suffering in scripture. Yes, we have been here too.

The winding road: What does this represent? Many switchbacks, goals that must be altered, the way seems unsure; we seem to be making little progress, we may be getting discouraged, we must travel slower than we wanted, life has brought us confusion. We may not know where we are going or if we are even on the right road at all, yet we keep going.

The rough road. It speaks for itself! Our life is anything but smooth; it seems we are coming apart.

God’s light will cut through all of this.... All of these things are only a part of the journey. It is precisely in these kinds of difficulties: arduous climbs, depressing descents, confusing switchbacks in our progress, rough patches...... Desert Experiences.....that we find that God is most active. Our journey of life is not meant to be a freeway, so much as a hike; not easy, but challenging. We have the Holy Spirit as our guide and the Church, through whom he speaks, to lead us until we reach our home. Such is our Advent and our life’s journey.   

                                                                                                Father Gary  

36 posted on 12/10/2017 6:31:08 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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Reflections from Scott Hahn

Straighten the Path: Scott Hahn Reflects on the Second Sunday of Advent

Download Audio File

Readings:
Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11
Psalm 85:9-14
2 Peter 3:8-14
Mark 1:1-8

Our God is coming. The time of exile – the long separation of humankind from God due to sin – is about to end. This is the good news proclaimed in today’s liturgy.

Isaiah in today’s First Reading promises Israel’s future release and return from captivity and exile. But as today’s Gospel shows, Israel’s historic deliverance was meant to herald an even greater saving act by God – the coming of Jesus to set Israel and all nations free from bondage to sin, to gather them up and carry them back to God.

God sent an angel before Israel to lead them in their exodus towards the promised land (see Exodus 23:20). And He promised to send a messenger of the covenant, Elijah, to purify the people and turn their hearts to the Father before the day of the Lord (see Malachi 3:1, 23-24).

John the Baptist quotes these, as well as Isaiah’s prophecy, to show that all of Israel’s history looks forward to the revelation of Jesus. In Jesus, God has filled in the valley that divided sinful humanity from himself. He has reached down from heaven and made His glory to dwell on earth, as we sing in today’s Psalm.

He has done all this, not for humanity in the abstract, but for each of us. The long history of salvation has led us to this Eucharist, in which our God again comes and our salvation is near. And each of us must hear in today’s readings a personal call. Here is your God, Isaiah says. He has been patient with you, Peter says in today’s Epistle.

Like Jerusalem’s inhabitants in the Gospel, we have to go out to Him, repenting our sins, all the laziness and self-indulgence that make our lives a spiritual wasteland. We have to straighten out our lives, so that everything we do leads us to Him.

Today, let us hear the beginning of the gospel and again commit ourselves to lives of holiness and devotion.

37 posted on 12/10/2017 6:39:37 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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