Make Ready
One
It’s Christmas Eve. As Advent drew to its close, we heard at Mass readings that point to St. John the Baptist. Why? Because his role was to prepare the way of the Lord. This is what we’re called to do even now and continually. St. Luke says of him, “he went into all the region about the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low…” (Lk 3: 4-5). This invitation is a loud call to humility, which John shouts both with voice and deed. A heart filled with self-centered desires can’t be filled with God. Therefore, the valley of our deficiencies must be filled with Love; the mountains of our vanities and attachments to status and money must be made low through humility. This is the purpose of John’s message and Advent, to prepare for Christmas.
Two
St. John Henry Newman offered these profound insights on what it means to watch and prepare for Christ: “to watch is to be detached from what is present, and to live in what is unseen; to live in the thought of Christ as He came once, and as He will come again; to desire His second coming, from our affectionate and grateful remembrance of His first.”
Newman continues, “when Christ tells us to watch and wait for him, it is as if he is saying this: ‘Few will open to me immediately when I knock. They will have something to do first; they will have to get ready.’
“They will have to recover from the surprise and confusion which overtake them on the first news of My coming, and will need time to collect themselves, and summon about them their better thoughts and affections. They feel themselves very well off as they are; and wish to serve God as they are. They are satisfied to remain on earth; they do not wish to move; they do not wish to change.” I too often discover these thoughts as my own. If you do too, let us together repent, that we can be ready and waiting for Jesus this Christmas.
Three
How many times does the Lord and his saints & prophets warn us about not allowing ourselves to become preoccupied with the things of this world? How often do we need to be reminded to set our sights on heaven and not on earth? Unfortunately, instant gratification and the pressure of mass conformity to vain standards amplify Satan’s lies that this world is what is important! Yet, we begin seeing Christmas decorations at Halloween because we hunger for the joy that can only come from the other world, the real world: Christ’s world. And He enters our world to point out the real and eternal against the fake and the fleeting. Only He provides the joy, peace, and love for which we yearn! Lord Jesus, come!
Four
We are told in Scripture that Satan accuses us day and night before God (Rev 12:10). Therefore, he hurls his false accusations and lies at us day and night. He hates you and me. He is constantly telling us things like, ‘You are not enough! There is something wrong with you!’ ‘You are ugly and worthless!’ ‘No one loves you are could ever love you!’ ‘You are a terrible person!’ ‘God doesn’t care about you, but only wants to control you!’ ‘There is no hope for you!’ ‘Kill yourself!’ He hurls these lies at us constantly and in a myriad of ways: some we recognize, some we don’t. Too often, we confuse his voice with the voice of truth or of reason or worse, of God. This is his final trick. If you hear these words, know that these come from a murderous liar who hates you, is not believable, and it’s not the truth. This Christmas, hear the words of God instead: “I love you, my child! I come for you, just for you! You alone are the apple of my eye! I can’t wait to celebrate with you! I bring you something special that I made for you in heaven, but I want to give it to you now! Come and receive!”
Five
To prepare best for Jesus and overcome the lies, we must do four things: Practice daily meditation; receive the sacraments as often as we can; repent from sin through acts of self-denial; grow in virtues like friendship and love.
St. Padre Pio loved the meditate on the Nativity seen. He would gaze for hours at a time. When asked why, he told one of his friars, “The heavenly babe suffers and cries in the crib so that for us suffering would be sweet, meritorious and accepted. He deprives himself of everything, in order that we may learn from him the renunciation of worldly goods and comforts. He is satisfied with humble and poor adorers, to encourage us to love poverty, and to prefer the company of the little and simple rather than the great ones of the world. He is speaking this to me!” and he is speaking this to you! This Christmas, listen!