Prepare a way for the Lord!

 Second Sunday of Advent Year C - 5th December 2021

Gospel Luke 3: 1–6

In the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar’s reign, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judaea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of the lands of Ituraea and Trachonitis, Lysanias tetrach of Abilene, during the pontificate of Annas and Caiaphas the word of God came to John son of Zechariah, in the wilderness. He went through the whole Jordan district proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the sayings of the prophet Isaiah:

A voice cries in the wilderness:

Prepare a way for the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley will be filled in,

every mountain and hill be laid low,

winding ways will be straightened

and rough roads made smooth.

And all mankind shall see the salvation of God.

Gospel Reflection from St Beuno's Outreach

I begin this period of prayer as I always do, by preparing, in my heart, a way for the Lord. I take my time to become still.

I read the gospel slowly, thoughtfully ... what am I noticing here?

The detailed opening paragraph may seem puzzling, as Luke firmly anchors things in a concrete time and place.

Where have I found God at work in the concrete circumstances of my own history? Where do I continue to find him?

The passage begins with Tiberius who, as Roman Emperor, was the most powerful man alive in Jesus’s world, but ends by focusing on the Lord himself, the salvation of God for all people.

Who are the powerful figures in my world, my life? ... those with the loudest voices, the greatest profiles, the most ‘likes’ on social media?

Who is the Lord for me?

What is he saying along the winding ways and rough roads of my life? And how am I preparing a way for him, readying myself in anticipation for his coming?

I speak to him from the heart in complete trust. Our Father ...